Sunny Skies for Gold Cup

Photos by Joanne Maisano

Rain held off for the 82nd Running of the International Gold Cup at Great Meadow in The Plains! It turned out to be a spectacular fall day – cool enough for the horses to have a great run.

The crowd of approximately 40,000 enjoyed lavish tailgate parties and private corporate tents. Tailgate winners were: 1st: Fall Foxhunt: The Freeman Family; 2nd: Classic: Kelly Eisele and Friends; and 3rd: Race for the Tatas: Teresa Philips.

The day started off with the extremely popular Jack Russel Terrier Races followed by the National Anthem sung by Bitsy Watson, who has sung at Washington Capitals, Wizards, Nationals and Mystics games. Flags were presented by the Liberty High School JROTC.

The seven horse races presented some fierce competition and had much of the crowd participating in the sanctioned betting. The tailgate and hat competitions were equally competitive and the judges had a big task in selecting the winners. ML