Demonstrative Named Steeplechase Champion
Image:
Description:
Knocking back three consecutive grade I National Steeplechase Association races, Demonstrative earned the Eclipse Award for the top steeplechaser over last year's winner, Divine Fortune, and A.P. Smithwick Memorial Stakes (NSA-I) victor and ill-fated Makari.
Bred in Kentucky by Gainsborough, the then 7-year-old gelding by Elusive Quality —Loving Pride, by Quiet American, races for Virginian Jacqueline Ohrstrom, the wife of the late George L. Ohrstrom Jr., and is trained by Richard Valentine.
After finishing second to Makari by a nose in the Smithwick at Saratoga Race Course July 31, Demonstrative garnered the New York Turf Writers Cup Stakes (NSA-I) at the Spa Aug. 25, a race in which Makari died after pitching to the ground after clipping the final fence.
That score was followed by a win at Belmont Park in the Lonesome Glory Handicap (NSA-I) Sept. 18 and a 3 3/4-length win over Divine Fortune in the sport's biggest race, the Grand National Hurdle Stakes (NSA-I) at Far Hills, N.J. Demonstrative finished third behind Divine Fortune and Barnstorming in the year's final grade I, the Colonial Cup Stakes at Camden, S.C. Following the Colonial Cup, Demonstrative earned the National Steeplechase Association's Lonesome Glory Champions Award at the National Steeplechase Museum as the year's leading earner with $362,500.
Voting (Only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities: National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters):
Demonstrative, 206; Divine Fortune, 12; Decoy Daddy, 5; Makari, 2. Voter Abstentions, 40.