Grand National Top Three Face Off in Iroquois
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Mr. Hot Stuff clears the final hurdle en route to winning the Grand National at the Far Hills Races
The last time Mr. Hot Stuff, Modem, and All the Way Jose got together on the racecourse, all that separated them at the wire was a couple inches.
They will have a chance to repeat that so-close finish May 12, when they meet again in the $200,000 Calvin Houghland Iroquois (NSA-G1), the featured race of the 77th annual Iroquois Steeplechase at Nashville's Percy Warner Park.
At three miles on the undulating Percy Warner course, the Iroquois is the longest race for hurdlers on the National Steeplechase Association schedule. All starters carry 158 pounds.
Gillian Johnston's Mr. Hot Stuff, a 2009 Triple Crown competitor, kept moving forward after the last fence of the $400,000 Grand National (NSA-G1) at the Far Hills Races in October and won by a nose over Modem, who in turn was a nose ahead of All the Way Jose after 2 5/8 miles.
Robert Kinsley's Modem, who finished second four consecutive times in grade 1 races after being imported last year, will be making his first start of the year for trainer Elizabeth Voss, who tapped Jack Doyle to ride.
Buttonwood Farm's All the Way Jose and Mr. Hot Stuff met in the Temple Gwathmey Handicap (NSA-G2) in Virginia April 21 and finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Darren Nagle, last year's champion jumps jockey, will be aboard All the Way Jose for Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard.
Jack Fisher, who trains Mr. Hot Stuff, is importing top Irish jockey Danny Mullins to ride the 12-year-old. Mullins was aboard for the Grand National victory.
Seeking to break up the dominance of the veterans is 5-year-old Zanjabeel, who is owned by Rosbrian Farm and Wendy and Ben Griswold. A two-time winner in the United States last fall, Zanjabeel was second in the Temple Gwathmey after a second-place finish in the Marion duPont Scott Colonial Cup Stakes (NSA-G1) in March.
Trainer Ricky Hendriks will put Ross Geraghty in the saddle.
Also in the field is Irvin S. Naylor's Jamarjo, a grade 3 winner who finished fourth in the Oct. 21 Grand National. Kieran Norris, the 2016 champion jockey, will ride for trainer Leslie Young.