The names of the many families associated with the Iroquois Steeplechase through recurrent generations would make a very long list. The three-mile Iroquois race is one of the most celebrated races of its kind. It is a daunting challenge not easily won, and the names of the owners, trainers, and riders who have mastered the task read like an honor roll of American steeplechasing. Moreover, the names of the volunteers who have made this race meeting so special for sixty-eight years are no less to be honored.
2009 Inductee
Ernest K. Hardison, Jr.
Ernest K. Hardison, Jr. won the Iroquois Steeplechase in 1944 when he rode Bank Robber, after being bested by Calvin Houghland, on Frederick II, the preceding year. From H. Hooker's Fox, Fin & Feather (pg. 101), "Perhaps my favorite memory from the Iroquois Steeplechase...is the year when Ernest Hardison rode Bank Robber. Sloan was announcing the race that day for WSM radio. When the horses came to the last jump, Bank Robber was challenging and Sloan was overtaken with competitiveness, he began screaming into the microphone, "Come on Bank Robber! Come on Bank Robber!!" and so he cheered him down the stretch. The crowd roared with excitement and then laughter as we realized the announcer was bringing home his own horse, the winner."
It could not be better stated than as published in the 1983 Steeplechase program: Dedication to the Senior Stewards “evolution from foxhunters to steeplechasers” – “Ernest Hardison, Jr.’s victory aboard Bank Robber was but one triumph in a long series of brilliant efforts as an owner, trainer and rider of steeplechasers. His ability to find the key to a horse and call on its best down to the wire became a hallmark of the affable Hardison’s style. There was that in him which needed no spur and his horses sensed it Not so many Phi Beta Kappa’s make foxhunters, much less steeplechasers so it is the more remarkable to see his exploits as a canny competitor which have so enriched our racing scrapbooks.” He helped support one of Nashville’s premier events for 44 years.
His family remembers him working hard to lose weight for the races and how much it scared his wife Nancy when he raced. Ernest also won the flat race aboard his own horse, Tedder, the day he won the Iroquois.
With fond and loving memories of their favorite steeplechaser, equestrian, scholar, and gentleman, the Hardison family continues today to support the Iroquois Steeplechase and Monroe Carell, Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
2008 Inductees
The 2008 inductees are Calvin Houghland, Dr. John Youmans and Austin Brown. Aside from being among the most colorful participants in the early days of the race, they were all known for their horsemanship and their enduring commitment to the Iroquois. Their legendary careers as owners, trainers and riders remain in the memories and records of their exploits at the races.
Calvin Houghland
If anyone qualifies as the soul of the Iroquois it is surely Calvin Houghland, whose success in the many facets of steeplechasing have made him the guiding force of the Iroquois since the death of his illustrious father, Mason Houghland, in 1959. Calvin knows how to win the race. He won as a jockey in 1943 on Frederick II and won as an owner in 1958, 1961 and 1964. During the subsequent years he often fielded multiple entries in the Iroquois without a win, until finally his perseverance was rewarded when he won in 2002 with All Gong. Moreover, he experienced the satisfaction of having All Gong go on the win steeplechasing’s most prestigious award, the Eclipse Award.
If you wish to see Calvin’s monument, look around you.
Dr. John Youmans
Dr. John Youmans was the recipient of many awards during his career in medicine. He received the French Legion of Honor for his work on nutrition in unoccupied France during World War II. The good doctor (as he was called) was the subject of many anecdotes about his celebrated accolades and accomplishments. Among these was a tremendous tolerance for pain that characterized his fearless foxhunting and steeplechaser training. One such story concerned his having sustained a broken leg in a fall off one of his chasers after which he remounted only to fall again and break the other leg. Inasmuch as he was Dean of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine at this time, this performance created a stir when the admissions nurse greeted him with, “[W]ell, John, it’s like old times, isn’t it?”
As owner of Storm Hour, Dr. Youmans won the Iroquois twice, in 1950 and again in 1953 when he edged out his famous rivals, Jarrin John and Ginny Bug, by a nose.
Austin Brown
Austin Brown rode in his first Iroquois in 1943 at age 16 and finished fourth. He rode in his last Iroquois in 1958 and finished sixth. In between he rode in 12 others, winning three times, in 1947 and 1948 on his own horse Bluish, and in 1954 on Harry Nichols’ Ginny Bug. He finished in second place twice, third place twice and fourth place three times. He finished unplaced three times and fell once. In total, he rode in 14 Iroquois races.
Brown also rode in seven Marcellus Frost races, winning four times, finishing in second place twice and falling once. He rode in the Mason Houghland Memorial Timber race four times, winning once, finishing in second place twice and unplaced once. He rode in the flat race three times with no wins, but earned one second and two fourth place finishes.
He rode in a total of 28 races overall, winning eight times, finishing in second place seven times, third place two times, fourth place four times, five times unplaced and falling twice.
Since retiring from riding, Austin still returns to the Iroquois as a spectator. He has also served at the Iroquois as a steward and a television commentator. To these responsibilities, he has brought the integrity that characterized his career as a horseman.
2007 Inductees
The affable “Pops” Frost received permission from Edwin Warner to look around the Warner parks to locate places to put some jumps. The enthusiastic Frost, however, envisioned a steeplechase course and had Mason Houghland enlist the aid of William du Pont, Jr. to design it. Mr. du Pont declared the site to be the most beautiful natural setting for a steeplechase course he had ever seen in his life. Pops Frost’s vision came to fruition in 1941 with the inaugural running of the Iroquois Steeplechase sixty-seven years ago. The event has since retained its original flavor, which draws huge crowds every year to this sporting event in Middle Tennessee.
In 1932 Mason Houghland founded the Hillsboro Hounds with himself as Master and John Sloan, Sr. as Honorary Secretary. The Hillsboro Hounds is a private equestrian organization of fox hunters. The first Iroquois Steeplechase was run with Houghland as chairman and the six-race Steeplechase has thrived and prospered ever since. The success has been due in large part to the interest and chairmanship of his son, Calvin Houghland, whose attention has been an enormous benefit to the race throughout its sixty-seven year history.
John Sloan, Sr.
John Sloan, Sr. was a protégé of Mason Houghland who lived on to carefully nurture their equine institutions, the Hillsboro Hounds and the Iroquois Steeplechase. He managed them in excellent order for two decades after Mr. Houghland’s death. About Sloan, John Bibb, the great Tennessean sports writer, said, “If the storied bell is the sound of Nashville’s internationally famous steeplechase, then John Sloan, Sr. is surely the soul of this annual spring celebration.”
Actually, Sloan produced the most hilarious moment at the Iroquois when he was announcing the race and switched to cheering his horse Bank Robber on to win.