The 99th Far Hills Race Meeting, the annual day of steeplechasing at Moorland Farm in Far Hills, is set for Oct. 19–complete with pari-mutuel betting and the usual lavish tailgating scene overlooking the racetrack.
Although the race meeting is, annoyingly, called “the hunt,” by some who don’t know better, it has nothing to do with hunting anymore. Originally, the races were a thank you from the Essex Fox Hounds to farmers and landowners who let the hunt ride over their property.
Over the decades, the hunt races evolved into big-time sanctioned races drawing horses from across the country and around the world, with the largest purse structure of any steeplechase meeting. It offers $850,000, $450,000 of which is awarded for the Grand National, and all the action is live-streamed.
The race meeting, which annually draws 30,000 people, benefits Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset in Somerville. According to National Steeplechase Association President Guy Torsilieri, who chairs the event with Ron Kennedy, it has donated nearly $20 million to the hospital. The facility’s Steeplechase Cancer Center was named to honor the race meeting.
The event also partners with RWJBarnabas to support five other charitable organizations, including Cancer Support Community Central New Jersey, Bonnie Brae, ARC of Somerset County, Life Camp in Pottersville, and Liberty Corner-based Community in Crisis.
Open Road Auto Group and Peapack Gladstone Bank are the races’ major sponsors, but there is plenty of other corporate backing.
Tickets can be purchased online, printed out at home and scanned at 10 different locations at Moorland. Through Oct. 18, general admission tickets can be purchased in advance for $100 and parking tickets for $30 through area vendors and online. On event day, general admission and parking tickets can only be purchased at the gate. General admission costs $200 and parking remains at $30.
Gates open at 8 a.m. and the first of seven races begins at 1 p.m. For information, call (908) 234-9115 or go to www.farhillsrace.org.