The Grade 1 steeplechase season will have a new starting point for 2018 when the $150,000 Marion du Pont Scott Colonial Cup (G1) is run Saturday at the Springdale Race Course in Camden, South Carolina.
Contested at 2 3/8 miles, the Colonial Cup for decades was the final leading jump race of the year. However, event organizers canceled it in 2017 and chose to move the race from November to March in order to boost business.
A field of six will line up Saturday, with Swansea Mile and Hinterland among the contenders. Swansea Mile contested four stakes last season, winning the A.P. Smithwick Memorial (G1) at Saratoga and placing third in the Lonesome Glory (G1) at Belmont Park. Hinterland raced just twice last term, finishing a distant second to eventual champion Scorpiancer in the Iroquois (G1) and seventh in the Lonesome Glory. Those have been the only two starts for Hinterland since 2015, when he finished a half-length behind Bob Le Beau in the Lonesome Glory.
While no wagering is available, Swansea Mile is coupled with Zanjabeel, who successfully invaded from Ireland last fall to take novice stakes at Far Hills and Pine Mountain for trainer Richard Hendriks. Also looking to capture his first non-restricted stakes is Show Court, who captured the Jonathan Kiser Novice at Saratoga last summer.
The field is rounded up by Balance the Budget, nine-length winner of the “Zeke” Ferguson Memorial (G2) when last seen in October, and multiple graded stakes winner Schoodic.
The Colonial Cup is the fifth race on a six-race program that begins at 1:30 p.m. (EDT).
