SUN: What to know about Maryland’s other big horse race, the 129th Hunt Cup

Baltimore — Joe Davies doesn’t talk strategy with his jockeys for the Maryland Hunt Cup. No, the Maryland-based horse trainer wouldn’t dream of speaking about the tactical intricacies of a 4-mile, 22-fence bash of bravery and brilliance run for the 129th time Saturday.

Instead, Davies talks more ethereally about a race he won three times as a jockey and seven times as a trainer.

“I tell my riders, ‘We just saw a crystal ball, and you’re going to win that race, but you can’t tell anyone. Can you imagine how great you’d feel the last three or four days before the race? You can’t tell anybody, but you’ve already won,” Davies said. “If you can force yourself to think that way. You’re not going to improve your chances by worrying about all those jumps. They’re going to come as they come. You’ve got the muscle memory and all the skills you’re going to need, and now you’ve got to just go do it.”

Davies has used this strategy with five riders — including his son Teddy — to win seven of the past nine iterations of the world’s greatest timber race. To be clear, the strategy isn’t perfect. Davies runs more horses in the Hunt Cup than any other trainer, and the crystal ball has smashed on the Maryland turf plenty of times.

Read the full article on The Baltimore Sun’s website.