Podcast: Iroqouis Steeplechase Experience
Photo: Toby Sells
Check here for the show’s entire transcription:
Welcome to the State & Beale podcast. This is the place where we celebrate Tennessee. The volunteer state. The Big Bend State. The Hog and Hominy State.
On this show, we celebrate Tennessee from State Street in Bristol to Beale Street in Memphis with apologies to Mountain City.
My name is Toby Sells, creator, host, and producer over here at State and Beale.
Music this week is by Jessie Rogers, who goes by the stage name Echoing Sunset. She won her showcase at The Down Home in Johnson City during this year’s Tennessee Songwriters Week competition. This is “Habit to Break,” the very song she performed to win. Blind from birth, Rogers found a deep love for writing and music at an early age; making up short stories during free-write time at school and singing at her church. Since 2020, Rogers released three singles under the name Echoing Sunset, and hopes to release an EP in the coming year. Best of luck to you, Jessie! Stick around at the end of the show to hear the song in its entirety.
My family and I did whirlwind trip from Memphis to Nashville and back this past weekend. It was a lot but it was totally worth it. My wife and I donned our hats and attended this year’s Iroquois Steeplechase on Saturday. Thank you so much to Autumn Eklond and every one with Steeplechase for showing us such a great time.
A few weeks ago I previewed Steeplechase with Autumn and race chairman Dwight Hall. If you want a sort of Steeplechase 101, which I certainly needed, go back and check out that episode. For now, I hope you’ll ride along with me as I do a sort of debriefing on our weekend with some of the sounds and a few interviews of folks gathered at Percy Warner Park for the 83rd running of the Iroquois Steeplechase.
[bugle call]
I had no idea what to expect. I’d never been to the event, never even been to a horse race before. But I knew a few things. Dress code — seersucker jacket, check. Hat, Stetson Open Road, check.
Ha! The hat was so essential to my steeplechase experience. How essential? We were 10 minutes from the house when I realized I’d forgotten it. And I did the unthinkable, which you’ll know if you ever did a road trip with any dad. I turned around. I added 20 minutes to a three-hour car ride just to don to appropriate chapeau. I wanted some great-looking photos of my wife and I together at Steeplechase. Totally worth it.
We checked into the Home 2 Suites by Hilton in Bellevue and it was a home run. I am terrible at picking hotels. I pick flea bags with nothing close by and nothing to do. This one was close to the park for a quick (and inexpensive) ride in a Lyft to the event. The room was huge and crazy comfortable. It had a pool. And it was in this great little lifestyle center that had a movie theater, a Jimmy Johns, a Sprout Market, a coffee shop, and tons of other her stuff. All our kids needed was the pool, the Jimmy Johns, and the movies, the AMC there and they watched Godzilla X Kong in 3-D! So they were set. Thanks to our friend and neighbor, Tim, for the sweet Hilton hook up.
Our Lyft driver dropped us off at the rideshare coral. And had no idea where we were going nor how far was the walk. Super helpful staff members got us on the right path and the gate was at least a quarter mile from the rideshare drop off. So wear comfortable shoes.
Also, I was using some new microphones and I haven’t dilaed them in just yet. So the audio quality isn’t perfect. Apologies.
“We've just arrived at Percy Warner Park. We're walking down the pedestrian path toward the event. Neither one of us have been here before, and as we're walking up we just see a sea of tents and a sea of people up on a hill, and you hear the announcers on the loudspeakers saying something. We're not very sure, but uh, a little anxious walking out. I don't know what to expect.”
”Walking through the tailgating area. A lot of big trucks. Country music blasting out of these huge speakers. And those 10x10 pop up tents that you see at the beach and everywhere else. Regular old tailgate. If you've ever been to an SEC football game, you know what I'm talking about. The dress is certainly elevated.
“It's like summertime chic. A lot of hats. I've seen a lot of hats. Great. A lot of folks playing cornhole. Oh, that's a cool one. Look at that. Got a Lionel Richie over there. Looks like a disco. That is a great tailgate.”
We were headed for the Hunt Club. With an upgraded ticket, we got access to this massive private tent. think circus tent and you’d be about right. We got our purple bracelets at the gate with our handy dandy race day program. And walked into a masterpiece of Southern hospitality.
Maybe two dozen large, round tables were draped in lemon-yellow tablecloths. The centerpieces were these spring-perfect bouquets of flowers. No music, like what we’d seen at the Royal 615 tent. The scene in the Hunt Club was simple and elegant, with a family-friendly calm. Only well-earned laughter and conversation ever got raucous in there. Everyone looked beautiful in their coats and hats and sundresses.
But at the time, noting looked more beautiful than lunch. A huge buffet table beckoned with good cheese, cut veggies, hummus, and these tiny little bread rolls I could not stop eating. The main course was chicken and pasta.
”You also have gemelli with spinach and tomatoes, a beautiful pasta dish, and chicken a la rose that I just had and it was amazing. Chicken breast garlic, olive oil, almonds, fresh lemon, and a little rose petal garnish.”
I’d never eaten rose petals before. A hungry as I was, I could’ve eaten anything. But I’m so glad I got to eat at the Hunt Club.
Belly full, next came time to whet my whistle. On the other side of the tent was a bar as long as the lunch buffet. I knew I was in the right place. A few local beers. Ranch water and other pre-made cocktails. Bottles enough to make any cocktail you could dream of and johnny-on-the-spot bartenders with talent to make them. (They told me they also use Google.) I went with a classic race day cocktail that is classic, it might have been cliche but I didn’t care.
“I’m drinking a mint julep out of a black, Jack Daniels cup. It is sweet, cold, southern, and absolutely delicious.”
We mingled and met new friends and, really, just took in the whole scene before heading out to the rail to watch the horses. Then, I saw a group of friends gathered up for a group photo.
“Having a great time. This is my ninth or 10th year. Cool. And I love the fundraiser. That's important. It goes to a good cause.
”And it's just fun for everybody to dress up. And we've been so lucky with this weather today.
“What keeps you coming back to Steeplechase? Why do y'all love this event?
“It's so relaxed. Her! Me. She organizes it, plans it, and invites it. Yeah. Fun. And we're happy to be here. It's fun. And we all like dressing up. Different people. Yeah. Yeah. Relationships. That's cool. It's a celebration of friendship and beauties and good times and creating memories. Lovely memories that we can share.
We're going to treasure the years to come and it's a part of the culture. It is. And we love that it's a part of the culture that makes us who we are. That's right. That's right.”
That’s when we heard it.
[Bugle call]
A real life bugle call. I’m not certain I’d ever even seen a bugle in real life. But there was the call just like you’d expect in movies or whatever. And for the first time, a bugle call meant something to me, had a bearing on my life. It meant the horses were headed to the track and get ready for some racing.
We grabbed our drinks, headed out of the tent, and walked up a well-worn wooden rail. Just inside the rail, the grass changed. It was greener, more lush. It’s the kind of difference you’ll notice on a golf course where the rough meets the fairway, maybe. That green, lush grass was meant for racing, I supposed.
As we waited, we checked our handy race day program and found the horses. So many of them were form Ireland, a few from Great Britain. They had those impossible race horse names, too. Artistic Choice. Recent Revelations. Moonshine Time. Snow Geese. And Snap Decision. Keep an eye on Snap Decision for later.
On one end of the field was a massive screen. You could easily call it a JumboTron. That’s where we watched the race begin. The amazing announcer, Tony Bently…alright I just googled Tony Bently. And he’s the regular voice of the National Steeplechase Association. He inimitable and in my mind, no one will do what he does better than him. But he’s also an actor and appeared in three Academy Award winning films – “Dallas Buyer’s Club,” ”12 Years a Slave“ and ”The Big Short.“ Insane!
Anyhow Tony Bently, is calling the race, we’re watching on the Jumbotron. Around the curve of the rail, you can see the react when they first see the horses. It’s like involuntary reaction to get excited. Then, I see the horses and I get excited. As they approach, you can hear their hooves beating the turf. It was softer than I imagined. But I was probably just used to hearing the miced up version of this in movies and the Kentucky Derby. Also, as they were directly in front of us, they were probably 30 yards away from the fence.
”Here we are at the top of the straight. Old Tom Morris. It was by two and a half. As they come to the final jump, Old Tom Morris has the lead three parts of a length. Walk the Warriors to the inside in two-and-a-half to Moonshine Time. Here they come to the wire! Old Tom Morris!”
I told my wife what Dwight Hall, the race chairman and former jockey, tells many about riding a race horse. He said drive your car up to 35 miles an hour and stick your head out the window. These horses breezed by and I can imagine that’s what those jockeys must’ve felt. And the horses did breeze. I was expecting them to pound by but their motion seemed so smooth and effortless. But I knew neither of those were true.
At the end of the race, the horses get a long bag of ice draped over their necks. I guess to cool them down. And that had other be right because once the jockeys dismounted and the saddles were removed the horses were doused with cold water by a whole team of steeplechase workers that only do horse cooling. It’s in the program!
We walked around a bit. Checked out the stores in the Hillside Shoppes. And it’s there we saw one of the best-dressed women of the day. Everyone else saw her, too, because she was wearing the biggest hat. It was checked in black and white and stood at least two feet over her head and drooped at least two feet down her back. I told her she won the hat game that day. She told me she was the self-declared people choice winner every year.
“How many years running now? Uh, three years running, a couple years walking.
“So, how long did it take you to put all this together? Well, you know what? If I got it right the first time, I could have knocked it out in about a couple of weeks. But there's some spectacular flame outs and flops along the way. So, maybe a month to get it where it will stay on your head.”
“What brings y'all back to Steeplechase? The fun! Hello! And you know what? It's all this fun, and I understand there's also some horse races.”
We also met another dapper couple as we waited for the next race to begin. Our new friend said he owned Legacy Master Barber Academy in Downtown Nashville. But being Steeplechase, I forgot to get his name.
“One of my students gave me some tickets, man. I ain't never, this is my first time ever coming. That is so cool. It's an honor to change. It is. It's beautiful, man.
“Oh, it's great, man. It's great. The weather's awesome. Every year I heard it'd be rain and stuff like that, but this year's been great. It's been great.”
He was dressed in perfect seersucker suit, nailing the definition of Steeplechase style. She was in a sundress and sneakers, backups for when she she knew she wanted to change out her heels. Expert planning.
He said he’d been to the Kentucky Derby. And I asked about how Steeplechase compares.
“You know what, the only difference is, I think the Derby is just more of a whole city thing. This is more of an area thing, I think, but it's still, it's awesome. It is awesome, man. It's awesome. And I love it like that.”
Everyone started to stream out of the park around the start of the last race. They were deflating the bounce houses in the family area, folks were grabbing one last drink to go from the Hunt Club, and the folks in the tailgating area were cleaning up mountains of beer cans and folding their tables up to go home.
Oh, Snap Decision. That horse I told you to keep an eye on earlier. The 10-year-old gelding became only the second horse to win the Iroquois three times. Snap Decision Made history in front of a record crowd of nearly 26,000.
What am amazing experience. If you ever have an opportunity to to this race. Do. It. It’s a one-of-a-kind Tennessee experience and you should see it. But if you can’t make it to the park next year, get dressed up, make a mint julep, and fire up the event’s live stream on YouTube. I know we will.
That’ll do it for this episode of the shoe. Thanks again for listening. We’ll see you back here in Tennessee next week for more State and Beale.
State and Beale was written, produced, and hosted by me Toby Sells. If you want to sponsor this show other more about what I’m working for State & Beale’s future, please drop me a line at toby@stateandbeale.com.
Ride along as I take you through my experience at Percy Warner Park for the 83rd running of the Iroquois Steeplechase, complete with some sounds and interviews.
From the excitement of donning our hats to the exquisite cuisine at the Hunt Club, every moment at Steeplechase was unforgettable. The Southern hospitality and elegance at the event truly made it a day to remember.
As the races began, the thrill of watching the horses in action, the bugle calls, and the cheers of the crowd poured on the excitement. Snap Decision's historic win and the truly vibrant atmosphere at the event showcased the essence of Steeplechase.
Steeplechase is not just a horse race but a celebration of friendship, elegance, and Southern culture. It's an event that captures the spirit of Tennessee.
