1966 - 1970
Our first five years in a bend of the river Horseshoe Bend
"Good for cotton and good for racing" described the late John Wayt
Sr.'s sandy bottom land at Horseshoe Bend on the Chattahoochee
River, once farmed by pioneers. It was there on a hot Sunday in
March, 1966, that the first NSA-sanctioned Atlanta Hunt Meeting and
Steeplechase was run.
About 9,000 spectators came to watch 'chasers vie over timber and
hand-stuffed brush hurdles for the benefit of the Multiple Sclerosis
Society. Fewer than 100 Guarantors underwrote the $7,000 in purse
money and enjoyed the first Tent Party. Picnickers and tailgaters
experienced the usual vagaries of Atlanta springtime weather while
establishing the gourmet food and eclectic dress traditions which
are all part of Atlanta's unique 'Chase Day.
The Atlanta Hunt Meeting and Steeplechase was held for five years at
Horseshoe Bend. Both brush and timber races were run "backwards" or
clockwise to deal with a sharp turn which sloped the wrong way, but
the whole level track was visible to spectators watching the races.
1971 - 1980
Our new home Seven Branches Farm In 1971, the Steeplechase moved 40 miles north to Seven
Branches, yet again a Wayt property. In 1979, the Board of Stewards
changed the Hunt Meeting date from March to early April. Horses had
more time for race conditioning and spectators had a chance for
better weather. Hollywood celebrities, Polly Bergen and Hugh
O'Brien, each attended a race during these years. By 1980, the race
purse had climbed to $34,000. Attendance had nearly doubled from the
approximately 9,000 at Horseshoe Bend to 18,000 at Cumming. With the
goal of having the Steeplechase benefit a local rather than national
institution, in 1976 the Atlanta Speech School became the new
beneficiary.
The hilly and challenging mile and one-sixteenth Cumming, Georgia
track originally required tons of fill dirt before opening in 1971.
It was not wide enough to accommodate timber as well as brush
hurdles. It could, however, be run in the traditional
counter-clockwise direction, contrary to its predecessor. A new
grandstand was completed in 1972 and artificial but National brush
hurdles replaced the arduously hand-stuffed evergreen jumps of
previous years.
1981 - 1987
Atlanta gains a reputation as the testing ground of champions
With the change of date to later in the spring, owners, trainers and
riders considered Atlanta the testing ground of the '80's for their
horses. Flatterer, a four-time Eclipse Award winner, broke his
maiden in a 1983 Atlanta race by eight lengths. Atlanta-owned,
Census, another remarkable competitor, won the inaugural running of
the Breeder's Cup Steeplechase. He was the leading steeplechase
money-winner in '84 and '86. By 1987, the Atlanta purse had
increased to $135,000. Corporate-sponsored and private parties
gained in popularity during this era, and the landscape was dotted
with colorful tents.
1988 - 1992
We come of age with the support of many friends
Atlanta's premier spring fling was named Best Charity Event by
readers of Inside Buckhead and other metro publications in 1988.
That same year, Mickey Free, ridden by Chuck Lawrence, was winner of
the feature race that, for the first time, paid $100,000. In 1991,
the Atlanta Journal Constitution highlighted a front-page photograph
of the Atlanta Steeplechase in its Sunday edition for the first
time. Members of Roswell Boy Scout Troop 87 sold programs and helped
with pre-event preparations and cleanup after the races. Through all
kinds of weather, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department directed
traffic and provided security. Torrential rains mired the course and
grounds in 1989 when scores of cars had to be towed from the muck.
1992 brought a new competition to the infield, a tailgate contest,
with a prize for the most creative presentation.
1993 - Present
Time to move on again - to the bend in another river KINGSTON DOWNS
In 1994, Atlanta prize money totaled $197,500, tying Iroquois in
Nashville, for the richest race meet in the country at that time.
Word from the Georgia Department of Transportation of plans for a
road expansion through Seven Branches Farm forced yet another move,
this time to Kingston Downs located between Rome
and
Cartersville,
Georgia. After researching more than 200 possible sites, members of
the Board of Stewards held a groundbreaking ceremony in November
1993, for the new Steeplechase course. Located on 435 acres on the
Bartow-Floyd County line, Kingston Downs closely resembles the
original course as it, too, is nestled in a bend of a river, this
time, the EtowahRiver.
Set in a bowl-shaped valley, the entire track is visible to all
spectators. The property, under a long-term lease to the Atlanta
Steeplechase, is owned by De Clerck Hanssens
In 2007, the Atlanta Steeplechase announced two new primary
beneficiaries, Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation of Atlanta
and the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.
Additionally, souvenir sales benefit the Coosa Valley Chapter
American Red Cross.
