The Iroquois Steeplechase attracts more than 25,000 spectators annually to watch the best horses and riders in the world race over hurdles and timber on a manicured turf track.
Held Saturday May 14, this iconic sporting event is Music City’s annual celebration of time‐honored traditions, Tennessee hospitality and Southern fashions.
Here are 10 fun facts about the Iroquois Steeplechase.
1.The race started 7 decades ago in 1941 and is still considered Nashville’s rites of spring.
2.The Iroquois has had a cross- Atlantic rivalry throughout its history.
3.This year a winning horse could earn more than $850,000 by crossing the finishing line first in both races, considering their individual purses and the Brown Advisory Cheltenham Iroquois Challenge.
4.The thoroughbred horses in the race are all 4 years old or older.
5.Box seats are sold out for 2016 Steeplechase.
6.The Steeplechase is named after the winner of the first race—Iroquois, the first American-bred thoroughbred to win the prestigious British Epsom Derby
7.A confidant of FDR, as in former US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, helped start the race.
8.Since being designated as the official charity in 1981, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has received more than $10 million from Iroquois Steeplechase proceeds.
9.Even under threatening weather conditions – such as the Nashville Flood of 2010 – the Iroquois has run continuously since 1941, only taking one year off during World War II.
10.When Iroquois – the namesake of the Nashville race – became the first American-bred winner of the English Derby in 1881, Wall Street closed temporarily for a celebration.
Information from blog.nashvilleairportlimo.com, visitmusiccity.com/steeplechase and iroquoissteeplechase.org was used to compile this list.
