Maryland Hunt Cup in Worthington Valley.The Maryland Hunt Cup is a Timber race, which is an American Steeplechase. The Maryland Hunt Cup is four miles long, with twenty two timber fences. Its permanent home is in Worthington Valley, Maryland. The race has ran every year since 1894, except for three years during the Second World War, 1942 – 1945. It is one of the most difficult steeplechase races in the world. The Maryland Hunt Cup was established in 1894, as a contest between two hunts, The Elkridge Fox Hunting Club and the Green Spring Fox Hunting Club, to determine the relative merits of the local hunting horses. In the first running of the race, the riders and owners had to come from either of the two hunt clubs. A year later the race opened up to horses owned and ridden by members of any recognized Hunt Club in Maryland. In 1903, this was further expanded to horses owned and ridden by members of any Hunt Club in North America. Nowadays there are no restrictions on where the horse and rider are from. Throughout its history, the Maryland Hunt Cup has been limited to amateur jockeys. The race is now always run on the last Saturday in April.
