While jockeys and horse owners competed for top purses at the Iroquois Steeplechase, race day began with a different kind of spectacle: a foxhound parade that organizers described as the perennial favorite of the 85-year-old event. More than 20 hounds—trained specifically to run alongside horses and hunters—were brought onto the turf course on Saturday as fans cheered and recorded videos and photos.
The parade depended on handlers to keep the hounds moving along the route. Charles Montgomery, a master and huntsman with the Mells Foxhounds hunting group that runs their pack in the steeplechase, described how the whippers-in face a sometimes difficult job when distractions from the infield—especially the noise and the food—pull the hounds’ attention away from the course.
Montgomery said one foxhound was so drawn to the crowd that she veered off course, adding that she appeared to enjoy being near the “beer tents.” He said the same dog returned to the beer tent the next year, and as a result she was no longer invited back to the race.
Montgomery also described how experience within the pack helps during the morning kickoff. He said he typically brings veteran hunting hounds that can guide younger ones along the course, and that the hounds bound off their trailer eager to sniff the grass, chew on sticks, and roll in the clover.
Organizers said the hounds wear GPS-equipped collars during hunts and when they arrive at the racetrack. Montgomery said that GPS proved helpful last year when a dog got spooked and ran into the wooded park nearby.
Stephen Heard, a trustee of the Iroquois Steeplechase and a member of the Mells Foxhounds group, said steeplechase racing and fox hunting have long been “wedded together,” tracing the tradition to the British Isles, where horses were raced between church steeples and trained to jump obstacles while hunting with dogs. He also said many of the steeplechase horses used in the event are ex-steeplechase horses.
With an estimated 25,000 spectators eating and drinking in tents and stands, handlers said the hounds need time to adjust to the sounds and smells. Boo Montgomery, one of the whippers-in, said the day creates “high pressure” for the dogs, recalling that one hound stopped for a snack when a child held out a fried chicken leg through the rails.
Even with the distractions, organizers said the hounds seem to enjoy the challenge of racing day. Boo Montgomery said it provides “great exposure for hunting” by letting people see the hounds and horses, adding that it is also “nice to be able to show off.”