Maryland Steeplechasing Benefits Local DC Charity

Put away your pastels and pull out your wellies – the horses are the main event at the Potomac Hunt Races. The Potomac Hunt’s annual steeplechase race is a time for Potomac Hunt Club members, Poolesville locals, and equine enthusiasts to share their love of one of Maryland’s oldest traditions with their community during a family-friendly day of tailgating.

Held on Sunday, May 19th at the Kiplinger estate in Poolesville, Maryland, the Potomac Hunt Races was a low-key event with wide-ranging appeal. While not as elaborate as the Virginia Gold Cup nor as raucous as Preakness, the Potomac Hunt Races occupies a pleasant middle ground. The tailgates were themed and convivial, the atmosphere was casual, and the sense of community was strong.

Welcome to the Horny Tailgating

As a former resident of western Maryland myself, walking around I ran into several former neighbors and someone I used to ride the MARC train with. Not everyone, however, was local. Two men at a particularly festive tailgate had flown in from Michigan for the weekend specifically for the steeplechase – one of them comes every year!

How about some food decor?

For the fourth year running, the Potomac Hunt partnered with the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a charity based out of Washington, D.C. that supports injured veterans and their families in their day-to-day lives. Ten veterans who have received help from the Yellow Ribbon Fund were out enjoying the day at the steeplechase with their families. As one of the veterans came through our tailgate with his 1-year-old son toddling along beside him, happily licking a giant chocolate ice cream cone and dripping big globs of ice cream onto his little tummy, the importance of the Yellow Ribbon Fund’s work and events like the Potomac Hunt Races hit home.

This is the fourth year in a row that the Potomac Hunt has partnered with the Yellow Ribbon Fund for the steeplechase, and it is a relationship that is very important to Beverly Bosselmann, the Master of the Hunt and an avid foxhunter along with her husband, Rainer. Bosselmann’s 21-year-old son was killed while serving in Iraq, and Bosselmann sees the Potomac Hunt Club’s support of the Yellow Ribbon Fund as a way to honor her son’s memory. Although this year’s numbers have not yet been released, in year’s past the Yellow Ribbon Fund has been the beneficiary of up to $15,000 generated from the race’s earnings.

In its 59th year, the Potomac Hunt steeplechase has a long history as a meaningful event for the pastoral town of Poolesville, located just outside the sprawling suburbs of DC. While it is not nearly the biggest race in the DC area (about 5,000-7,000 guests attend the Potomac Hunt Races in comparison to Virginia Gold Cup’s 50,000), it is an event helps define the identity of one of DC’s historic rural neighbors.

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