History

Steeplechase Racing is an imported product of Ireland with its roots originating from fox hunting. The first recorded steeplechase occurred in 1752 in County Cork, Ireland. Cornelius O’Callaghan and Edmund Blake engaged in a match race, covering about 4 1/2 miles from St. John’s Church at Buttevant to St. Mary’s Church in Doneraile. Church steeples were the most prominent, and tallest, landmarks on the landscape. Though history did not record the winner of the O’Callaghan-Blake race, the sport took its name from this simple “chase to the steeple.”

Cross-country match races spread to England, where the first reported race involving more than two horses occurred in 1792. Steeplechasing then migrated to established race courses and eventually to the Colonial States.

Though pointing out the first U.S. steeplechase is a difficult assignment (reports point to an 1834 event in Washington, D.C.), several of the oldest and most prestigious races are still run. The Maryland Hunt Cup, raced over tall post-and-rail fences, was first run in 1894. The American Grand National began in 1899. The National Hunt Cup in Radnor, Pa. dates to 1909. One thing we do know, steeplechase racing eventually made its way to Charlotte. The Queen's Cup Steeplechase, inaugurated November 18, 1995, is a highly anticipated annual event held on the last Saturday of every April.

The race meet was originally held on leased land in southern Union County right on the State line between North & South Carolina. In August of 1997, the Price family purchased 260 acres in historic Mineral Springs North Carolina to assure its permanence as a race meet in the Charlotte region. September of that same year, grading and construction started on what was to become a two and a half year, $2.6 million investment in racecourse design, buildings and infrastructure costs. Included in the construction was the design and installation of a fully automatic Toro irrigation system, year-round aggressive turf management by TruGreen and spectacular viewing angles from nearly every area of the racecourse.

The course and farm, nestled within a heavily tree-lined boundry on a 260 acres, was named Brooklandwood^® and officially opened on April 29, 2000. Just minutes from the I-485 beltway, the new state-of-the-art racecourse is considered to be one the finest steeplechase racecourse in the United States by both spectator and horseman alike.

In December of that same year, the Price family donated the development rights of 201 acres into a permanent easement with the Charlotte region's local land trust, Catawba Lands Conservancy, to permanently protect it's view shed from development for generations to come. In October of 2006, the Price family donated another 44 acres into a permanent conservation easement.

The Queen's Cup, produced by the Charlotte Steeplechase Association, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is an Association with a heart. Over $400,000 has been raised for our charities since 1995. This year's designated charity is Make-A-Wish^®.

For more indepth information about the history of the Queen's Cup, including the making of the Charlotte area's first state-of-the-art racecourse at, click here.

Charlotte Steeplechase Association Inc.
P.O. Box 70 - 6103 Waxhaw Hwy.
Mineral Springs, NC 28108-0070