About – Gwathey Steeplechase Foundation

MISSION

The Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation (TGSF) seeks to inspire and encourage interest in steeplechase racing by promoting sportsmanship and fair competition, protecting the health and safety of racehorses and jockeys, training competition officials, educating and supporting the development of amateur riders, and promoting these principles to the general public.

VISION

The Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation is committed to ensuring a safe and sustainable future for the great sport of steeplechase racing.

VALUES

With foresight in mind, the Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation will be inclusive, collaborative and innovative in all it does.

WHY WE ARE IMPORTANT

Our mission reaches far beyond the day-to-day work of our grantmaking programs. We benefit not only the sport, but also:

▪️the conservation of open space in areas around each of the 24 NSA meet locations up and down the East Coast – more than 10,000 acres of surrounding lands have been safeguarded by the sport;

▪️local charities who receive more than $2 million per year from NSA races, easing the philanthropic burden on local communities surrounding each race meet;

▪️the Thoroughbreds retired from flat track racing who find new owners and new careers through steeplechasing – often leading to fox hunting and eventing – after their racing days are over, easing the strain on Thoroughbred after-care facilities;

▪️local economies stimulated by work generated for farriers, fence builders, hay farms, feed dealers, tack stores, veterinarians, food, drink and clothing vendors, and more.

OUR HISTORY

The Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation was created in 1996 when the National Steeplechase Foundation (NSF) and the Temple Gwathmey Fund (TGF) merged. Its first president was one of the nation’s leading steeplechase riders and trainers, Charles C. Fenwick, Jr. and prominent horsemen and former TGF Trustees William L. Pape and John T. von Stade joined James A. Brodie, Emily Day, Michael E. Hoffman, Gail B. Thayer, Guy J. Torsilieri, Joseph G. Davies, Jack Fisher, Richard L. Valentine and Blair Wyatt to complete the initial leadership team. Fenwick, Pape, and von Stade are all recipients of the NSA’s prestigious F. Ambrose Clark Award for their contributions to the growth and welfare of American steeplechasing: Fenwick in 1980, Pape in 1988, and von Stade in 1995.

The new organization’s goals were threefold: promoting growth of the sport, investing in technology and medication testing to assure fairness, and minimizing risks for horses and jockeys. Fenwick said at the time of the merger that the two former organizations shared goals while taking somewhat different approaches to achieving those goals. The NSF pursued long-term initiatives, while the TGF acted frequently to meet new or unexpected challenges.

“Now, the new Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation will be equipped both to pursue long-term initiatives and to meet short-term or immediate needs,” he said. “With the merger of these two strong, active organizations, we look forward to taking advantage of the greater opportunities that will be available to the Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation. With our shared goals, the merger made a lot of sense.”

ABOUT TEMPLE GWATHMEY

The Temple Gwathmey Fund was named for James Temple Gwathmey, a Virginia native who was a successful cotton merchant and served as president of the New York Cotton Exchange. A race that bears his name was first run at Belmont Park in 1924, the year of his death at age 57. Eight years later, his son J. Temple Gwathmey Jr., an amateur jockey, died in a racing accident in New Jersey at age 23. The Temple Gwathmey Handicap is run each year at the Middleburg Spring Races and has been run continually each year since its inception. TGSF kept the Temple Gwathmey name in the development of the newly merged foundation to honor the legacy of Mr. Gwathmey.

GOVERNANCE

The 12-member TGSF Board of Directors is composed of distinguished leaders in business and philanthropy who share a passion for steeplechasing. In addition to its grantmaking, the TGSF works with the National Steeplechase Association to provide support for 24 race meet locations – the Aiken Steeplechase, the Blue Ridge Hunt Races, the Cheshire Races, the Far Hills Race Meeting, the Fair Hill Races, the Foxfield Races, the Genesee Valley Hunt Races, the Grand National Steeplechase Races, Great Meadow, the Iroquois Steeplechase, the Loudoun Hunt Races, the Maryland Hunt Cup, Glenwood Park, the Old Dominion Hounds Races, the Montpelier Hunt Races, My Lady’s Manor Races, the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup, Shawan Downs, the Springdale Racecourse, Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens, Steeplechase of Charleston, the Radnor Hunt Races, the Willowdale Steeplechase and the Winterthur Races.

TEMPLE GWATHMEY STEEPLECHASE FOUNDATION TRUSTEES FOR 2026

Executive Committee

Sean Clancy – President
Dixon Stroud – Vice President
Ann Jackson – Treasurer
George Cary – Secretary

Trustees

Mark Beecher (Whitehall, Md)
George Cary (Hockessin, De)
Sean Clancy (Middleburg, Va)
Van Cushny (Locust Valley, NY)
Tom Garner (Reisterstown, Md)
Jay Griswold (Cockeysville, Md)
Ann Jackson (White Hall, Md)
Pierre Manigault (Charleston, SC)
Katherine Neilson (Kennett Square, Pa)
Achsah O’Donovan (Upperco, Md)
Dixon Stroud (Kennett Square, Pa)
Justin Wiley (Orange, Va)