By Alan Lytle
Lexington, KY – Some of the top trainers and riders from across the U-S will be at the Kentucky Horse Park this Sunday for the 44th running of the High Hope Steeplechase. The annual event took a hiatus in 2010 because of the World Equestrian Games, but it is back this year.
Group President Remi Belloq says a whole day's worth of activities is planned.
"There are going to be three steeplechase races over brush fences. The horses kind of jump over and through brush fences. And then one race will be a timber race which is a solid fence. And when you get close to those fences it's very exciting because you hear the horses approaching at full speed and as they jump through the brush, there's the flash of the colors and the silk and all that. It's very exciting".
$70,000 in purse money is up for grabs.
Gate proceeds benefit a number of local charities including Central Kentucky Riding for Hope, the Makers Mark Secretariat Center, the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, and Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital. Gates open at 11 a.m.