Three horses lined up, waiting for starter Graham Alcock to drop the Rokeby Challenge Bowl's flag, the feature race at Piedmont Foxhounds' Point-to-point on March 20, two finished. Kinross Farm's Just Wait and See (IRE), piloted by Chris Gracie, took command of the pace all the way, charging across the finish line one furlong – 220 yards! – ahead of Irvin Naylor's Hooded, McLane Hendriks in the saddle.

It was an amazing performance for any horse in its first outing of the season, especially on a track that features some serious hills. Still, trainer Richard Valentine obviously knows a thing or two about conditioning. Veteran jump jockey Chris Gracie, who retired in late 2006 but returned to racing in 2018, showed his experience with two seconds in Maiden Timber before contributing to this sweet victory for Zohar and Lisa Ben Dov. As Valentine pointed out, they are terrific supporters of the game, locally on the point-to-point circuit as well as at sanctioned meets.

"Just Wait and See is a great horse," Valentine said. "He'll have two more races and then the Maryland Hunt Cup in April. I would love to win the Hunt Cup for Zohar and Lisa. It would be great to have a third Virginia-trained winner."

Thanks to racing announcer Will O'Keefe's CentralEntryOffice.com, it was easy to pull a full report of winners of the prestigious Maryland timber stakes for amateur riders. It turns out that Valentine has trained two Hunt Cup winners: Anna Stable's Michelle Marieschi (GB) in 2009 and Jacqueline Ohrstrom's Professor Maxwell in 2013.

What was really astonishing is that Just Wait And See crossed the finish line, looking ready to tackle the 3-mile track a second time. That has to be a good sign this early in the season. Best believe that Valentine will have the 12-year-young Irish-bred gelding finely tuned and prepared for the four-mile Hunt Cup on April 24 in Glyndon, Maryland.

Piedmont proved a good day for Valentine and owner Jacqueline Ohrstrom whose Hafajay (GB) finished second in the Amateur and Novice Timber under Gracie's tactful ride. The trainer finished up his day at the office with a second win when Paddy's Crown, Chloe Hannum doing the honors, led from start to finish first by four lengths in the Maiden Flat.

Neil Morris trained two winners, both ridden by Graham Watters: Noble Stables' Onarock in the Open Flat and Vincent Van Gogo (just love that name!), owned by Flying Elvis Stable, in the $2,000 VHBPA Flat, Virginia Bred, Sired or Certified.

Warrenton Hunt ran the first of their two point-to-points at Airlie on March 13 with two timber, two flat, plus the ever-popular ladies sidesaddle flat. Most of the winners came south for the day, although Doug Fout trained Four Virginia Gents' First Friday, ridden by Sophie Cornelius, to score a four-length win in the Novice Timber. Warrenton's second race meet is March 28, again running at Airlie with no spectators.

Bravos and cheers for the hunts and sanctioned meets for running with no or limited spectators, thus supporting the sport of racing, the horses, and their dedicated people.

Racing continues in April with a weekend meet for months to come. For the full schedule of point-to-points and sanctioned meets, as well as results and other info, please consult CentralEntryOffice.com and national-steeplechase.com – and please bookmark VirginiaHorseRacing.com, sponsored by the Virginia Equine Alliance, another great site full of racing news.