One of the biggest live horse racing events on the annual calendar is right around the corner. The 2023 Far Hills races will be run as a one-day event on Saturday, Oct. 21. The race day has become an official part of the annual New Jersey Thoroughbred racing calendar as New Jersey racing shines the spotlight solely on the steeplechase races at Far Hills this weekend.

Read on for some facts you should know about the Far Hills Race Meeting, a unique stop on the annual New Jersey and steeplechase racing calendars located within shouting distance of the New York City metro area. Racing fans, festival goers, and socialites have considered Far Hills a worthwhile October pilgrimage for more than 100 years.

Fans flock to Far Hills for the big day. (Penelope P. Miller/America's Best Racing)

1. The Far Hills Race Meeting will be run for the 102nd time in 2023. The Far Hills races have been continually run on the same site – today known as Far Hills, or Morland Farm – since 1916. The only missed runnings of the race happened during World War II and in 2020 due to Covid-19. This grand, old tradition received a boost in 2021, when the Far Hills Races were run on national television for the first time as a part of America’s Day at the Races broadcast on Fox Sports’ FS2 channel. The races will be similarly televised again this year.

2. The Far Hills meet's featured race is the $250,000 American Grand National steeplechase, which will be run at 2 5/8-miles over 14 fences. Eight horses are entered in 2023. The Far Hills course record was set in 2000 by All Gong, who completed the circuit in 4:53.90. The Grand National is one of only five Grade 1 races on the annual National Steeplechase Association schedule. The 2023 race day will include seven races – all stakes – with purses on the undercard ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per race. A total of 55 horses will compete on the card. The race caller will be well-known track announcer Larry Collmus.

3. For those who want to visit the races in person, a live crowd of 30,000-plus spectators is expected in 2023. Many horse racing fans in the New York City tri-state area may not realize their close proximity to Far Hills, which is located in Hills Township, N.J. with a population of around 1,000 residents. The race course is just 46 miles east of Manhattan and can be reached by car or ride-share app in less than 1 ½ hours from much of New York City area. The racecourse is also accessible by car to fans in nearby Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Connecticut. Attendees can also reach Far Hills by train on New Jersey Transit from Hoboken or from Newark on the Gladstone branch. For information on ticket options, visit www.FarHillsRace.org. Tickets for this horse racing and social event start at $110 for general admission. A $250 all-inclusive buffet and open bar option is available at the Chairman's Tent. Another option for fans 21 and up is The Hunt Club for a $50 upcharge. This section will offer front-row views of the action plus live DJ, lawn games, and lounge areas. Tailgating reserved parking spaces go for $600 per car.

4. McDynamo became the modern-day king of the Grand National Steeplechase at Far Hills, winning the event for five consecutive years from 2003 through 2007 for trainer Sanna Neilson, including three years from 2003-’05 when the race was known as the Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase.  The five-year winning streak was the jewel in the crown of one of the all-time great American steeplechase horses. McDynamo won his steeplechase maiden race as a 4-year-old at Far Hills on Oct. 20, 2001, and never looked back. He was an Eclipse Award finalist for champion steeplechase horse every year from 2002-’07, winning the award three times in 2003, 2005, and 2006. McDynamo won his final Grand National as a 10-year-old in 2007. The purse of the race that year was $300,000 and McDynamo was the oldest of 43 horses competing that day at the Far Hills races. McDynamo was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2013 after retiring as the all-time money-earning U.S. steeplechaser with $1,310,104, with the majority of that money earned at Far Hills.

5. The Grand National was known as the Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase, or Breeders’ Cup Grand National Steeplechase for six years from 2000-’05, with purses ranging from $175,000 to $250,000. The Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase had origins dating back to 1986 when it was run at Fair Hill (not to be confused with Far Hills) in Cecil County, Md. until 1987. It then became an annual $250,000 race that was considered an official part of the Breeders’ Cup but was not run as a part of the main Breeders’ Cup program. The race was often contested at Belmont Park as a part of its Super Saturday Breeders’ Cup Preview Day, often on national television, until its final running in 1993. The race was later revived from 2000-’05 under a partnership agreement between Breeders’ Cup and the National Steeplechase Association. However, the race was never again an official part of the Breeders’ Cup program following the race’s cancellation following the 1993 running at Belmont.