THE 2025 IROQUOIS STEEPLECHASE WINNER – ABAAN – SET TO RUN AT THE FAR HILLS RACE MEETING

Steeplechase Fans Follow ABAAN’s Historic Journey to the 2026 Cheltenham Festival

NASHVILLE, TN, UNITED STATES, August 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- All eyes remain on ABAAN, the winner of the 2025 Calvin Houghland Iroquois Steeplechase Grade 1, as he prepares for his next high-profile target in the $250,000 American Grand National Steeplechase Grade 1 at Far Hills Race Meet, October 18, 2025 at Moorland Farms in Far Hills, New Jersey.

With a commanding victory before a crowd of 30,000 at Nashville’s Percy Warner Park this past May, ABAAN cemented his place at the top of American Steeplechasing. Now, thanks to a groundbreaking partnership between Iroquois Steeplechase, The Jockey Club U.K., along with the generous support of TVV Capital led by Andrew Byrd, ABAAN has earned an invitation to run in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle Grade 1 at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival in Gloucestershire, England.

The four-day Cheltenham Festival race, offering a purse of approximately €350,000 / $381,000, is the pinnacle of jump racing in the U.K. with championship races each day before a crowd of over 300,000. ABAAN’s invitation marks a rare and historic opportunity for an American-trained horse to compete — and potentially win — at the sport’s highest international level.

ABAAN is owned by Dr. Joseph Fowler, Daigneault Thoroughbreds and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, trained by Kate Dalton and ridden by jockey Bernard (Bernie) Dalton.

“What an honor it has been to be a part in ABAAN’s rise to the top of American Steeplechasing,” said Dwight Hall, Chairman of the Iroquois Steeplechase. “A Grade 3 winner on the flat before switching to jumping, ABAAN was a commanding winner of the 2024 Green Pastures Novice Stakes at Iroquois before graduating to the top level with a win in the 2025 Calvin Houghland Iroquois Grade 1. It’s an even greater honor through our partnership with Jockey Club U.K. to give him the chance to make history on the world stage. We can’t thank TVV Capital enough for supporting this historic initiative and wish ABAAN the best of luck.”

If successful at Cheltenham, ABAAN would become the first horse ever to achieve the elusive Iroquois-Cheltenham double — a feat narrowly missed in 1987 by Eclipse Champion Flatterer. This journey underscores the spirit of the new international collaboration, which strengthens ties between U.S. steeplechasing and the legendary Cheltenham Festival, while highlighting the elite quality of horses that compete at the Iroquois Steeplechase each May in Nashville.

“ABAAN is a tremendous representative of the American jump racing scene,” said Andrew Byrd, CEO of TVV Capital and longtime supporter of the Iroquois Steeplechase. “The opportunity for him to compete at the Cheltenham Festival next year is bigger than one race — it’s about creating global visibility for the sport and the charitable causes it supports.”

Fans can watch ABAAN’s October 18 appearance at Far Hills via livestream on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxRmRUB3kX-X-_9YsNFhq3g

For more about the Iroquois Steeplechase set for May 9, 2026 in Nashville, TN and its international partnership with The Jockey Club, visit: www.iroquoissteeplechase.org.

About Iroquois Steeplechase
The Iroquois Steeplechase is a full day of racing at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, TN. The mission of the Iroquois Steeplechase is to manage and produce an annual world-class horse race that benefits Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and other local community non-profits, as well as promote the sport of steeplechasing. To learn more about Steeplechase, visit www.iroquoissteeplechase.org.

Tresa Halbrooks
LEGACY PR
tresa@legacy-pr.com

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