Ben Venue welcomes back Old Dominion Hounds
Socially distant and masked up, spectators practice compliance at autumn season opener
Winning jockey McLane Hendriks de ected most of the congratulations lobbed at him a er crushing the eld in Saturday’s Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point headliner, calling open hurdle winner Surprising Soul a master at his cra and a pleasure to ride.
“Last time down the hill, I let out a notch, and he just dug in again,” said the Pennsylvania-based amateur jockey, 28, of the sparkling performance at the Sept. 12 meet. “I mean, sitting on a grade 1 winner just feels totally di erent than sitting on another horse. You know the moment you throw your leg over him, he’s just that much better.
“It’s like driving a Camry versus driving a Mercedes. Both are good cars. A Mercedes is better.”
Surprising Soul led most of the two miles at the rolling Ben Venue course between Amissville and Flint Hill, turning back a challenge from Big Bend (Barry Foley up) before the last and drawing o by two at the wire.
“You call that kind of a ride ‘a steer job’,” Hendriks explained. “I just needed to stay with him. He does the rest.”
A $9,000 horses of racing age sale to Hendriks’ grandmother, Wendy, in 2016, Canadian-bred Surprising Soul had struggled to get o the mark on the at, but he began to shine a er he came to Ricky Hendriks’ Pennsylvania barn. He notched three wins in his novice season, and a pair of graded stakes wins in 2019.
Fifth in the grade 3 Gwathmey at Middleburg Spring Races in June, the 8-year-old winner of nearly $400,000 has a new career mapped out, according to trainer Ricky Hendriks – McLane’s father.
“The plan right now is to run him right back at Blue Ridge (Hunt Point-to-Point, Sept. 19) over hurdles again. “Then I plan to switch him to timber. “I’ve hunted him with River Hills (near Hendriks’ southeast Pennsylvania farm.) He’s the nicest hunter. Cool, classy. A real gentleman. He’s a great jumper, and I feel con dent he’ll pick up the (di erence) between skipping through a (so , pliable) hurdle and jumping up and over a (solid wood) timber fence. “There’s a perfect race for him at Callaway Gardens (Nov. 7 in Georgia.)”
McLane Hendriks echoed his father’s con dence. “I look forward to riding him, anytime, anywhere,” said the 2014 University of Arizona racetrack program grad.
TRIPLE PLAY
Surprising Soul was one of three winners Ricky Hendriks saddled Saturday. “We had a great day at Old Dominion,” he said. “Three winners, three di erent stable jockey, three di erent owners. That’s how you like it to happen.”
In addition to the family-connected feature winner, Hendriks sent out Armata Stables’ You’re No Better (Archie Macauley) to win a division of the maiden, and Emily Astor’s Good and Proper (Courtney Dankarich) to win the novice rider turf. Astor is part of one of England’s most famous racing dynasties. Her light blue silks with pink sash, Hendriks said, are the oldest silks in active use today.
An estimated 1,000 “essential personnel” and “race sponsors” attended the Old Dominion races, the rst steeplechase meet to run in front of o cial spectators since the mid-March COVID-19 lockdown.
National Steeplechase Association president Al Gri n was grateful for the compliance of everyone at Ben Venue. “Today set a precedent for moving forward with racing,” said the Marshall resident. “This proves we can work through Phase 3 requirements, or whatever, and still stay safe with social distancing, masks at all times – everything. It went well.”
Virginia racing gets a second chance to prove how well they handle pandemic pressure this Saturday: the Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point runs Sept. 19 in Berryville. Details are at centralentryoce.com.