Published: October 2, 1983

The annual Rolling Rock steeplechase races, which have benefited handicapped children for almost 50 years, have been abruptly ended.

The races, held with a few exceptions since 1934 on the Mellon family estate of Rolling Rock, at Ligonier, 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, have been more a social than a sporting event.

Over the years the sponsors, the Mellon Trust and the Rolling Rock Hunt Racing Association, have contributed more than...

By Paul Peirce, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 5, 2003

For nearly half a century, it was a rite of fall. America's finest thoroughbred horses and jockeys, cheered on by thousands of people, gathered in a small, picturesque southwestern Pennsylvania field where they reveled in the finest in steeplechase racing.
It's been 20 years since the Rolling Rock Hunt Racing Association's last race meet in Ligonier Township. About the only remnant of the popular event is an old judging...

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A rich history of international involvement characterizes the International Gold Cup Races, the highlight of the fall steeplechase season. The International Gold Cup itself, Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia, has had a long and interesting journey en route to its present home.
The first International Gold Cup was held in 1930 at Grasslands Downs in Tennessee over a 4¼ mile brush course, similar to the English Grand National course at Aintree. That year, the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII,...

The extraordinary beauty of its setting in the Loyalhanna Valley, some 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, makes the Rolling Rock hunt race meeting one of the most splendid of its kind. There the blue autumn mists hug the Pennsylvania mountains, and the foliage is barely beginning to turn. The outdoor spectacle is gilded by the richest purses of any hunt race meet. Naturally, the best steeplechasers and timber horses are drawn to the site, and present there now are such top contenders as Richard K. Mellon's...