September 2023 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN September 2023 Page 21 Maryland Hunt Cup Association Honors the Neilsons The Maryland Hunt Cup As- sociation presented the S. Bryce Wing trophy to Kathy and Sanna Neilson. Given to recognize an out- standing contribution to Mary- land timber racing, this award honors the memory of S. Bryce Wing, who was a member of the Maryland Hunt Cup Associ- ation from 1939 until his death at age 85 in 1975. Mr. Wing was Secretary of the Mary- land Hunt Cup from 1956 to 1966 and also president of the National Steeplechase and Hunt Association (now the National Steeplechase Association) from 1948 to 1964. He was also a member of The Jockey Club and a Master of Foxhounds at Elkridge-Harford. The two recipients have both given a lifetime’s worth of posi- tive contributions to the sport and achieved outstanding successes in this year’s Maryland Hunt Cup finishing first and second. Kathy and Sanna have had a combined total of 270 Maryland Timber starts as trainers. Between them they have had 30 Maryland Hunt Cup entries and six winners, including Sanna as a rider as well as a trainer. The Neilson and Stewart legacy in the long history of the Maryland Hunt Cup is profound, as is their generational champi- oning of equestrian pursuits as a whole. Sanna and Kathy’s Great Grandfather Redmond C. Stewart founded the Green Spring Valley Hounds and their Great Uncle Plunket Stewart founded Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds. Kathy and Sanna’s grandfather Redmond Stewart rode in the Maryland Hunt Cup as a jock- ey and went on to win it as an owner. Their other grandfather, Louis Neilson Jr., was Master of Foxhounds at the Elkridge Har- ford Hunt, and their mother Nina Stewart was a master at Cheshire Foxhounds. Their father, the famed late Paddy Neilson rode in the Maryland Hunt Cup 21 times, winning three times as a rider and once as a trainer. Sanna rode two winners in the Hunt Cup; in 1991 aboard Tom Bob, and on Ivory Poach- er in 1993. As a trainer she has had eight starts beginning with Floating Interest who was third in 2001, followed by The Bruce who was the winner in 2007 (with her brother Stewart in the irons), then Guts for Garters who was third in 2013, the winner in 2014, and runner up in 2015 and in 2016. Most recently Sanna trained Royal Ruse who was fourth in 2021 and second in this year’s Hunt Cup. Kathy’s first outing as a trainer set the bar high as she saw Young Dubliner to the winner’s circle in 2002, which set the course record at the time. Since then, she has entered seven more horses for a total of 19 Hunt Cup entries. After many years of hard-fought battles, she this year trained the 2023 Maryland Hunt Cup winner Withoutmoreado. Ridden by Connor Tierney and owned by Irv Naylor (a former Bryce Wing award recipient), this year’s victory took Kathy’s successes to new heights. Tell our advertisers you found them in East Coast Equestrian!