Virginia horseman Harold "Sonny" Via Jr., owner of duel Eclipse Award winning jumper and Hall of Famer Good Night Shirt, died March 25 at age 94, according to Jack Fisher, who trained the champion as well as other Via runners.
Via, who lived at Hob Knob Farm in Free Union, Va., campaigned Good Night Shirt with his wife, Ann May Via, from 2005 to 2009. Ann passed in 2014.
An electrifying and dominant jumper who stands among the pantheon of American steeplechasing's giants, Good Night Shirt succeeded another legend, McDynamo, capturing the Eclipse Award in 2007 and 2008. In fact, Good Night Shirt's 2008 campaign was one for the ages in which the then seven-year-old went a perfect five-for-five -- all Grade 1s -- establishing a single-season earnings record of $485,520, with Fisher and jockey Willie Dowling at the controls.
The Maryland-bred chestnut son of Concern entered 2009 riding a six-race winning streak dating back to the Grade 1 Colonial Cup in November 2007, and extended the skein to seven with a victory over hard-hitting Preemptive Strike in the G2 Carolina Cup at Springdale Race Course in Camden. But his next start two months later would prove to be his last when Good Night Shirt suffered a career-ending fracture while finishing second in the G1 Iroquois in Nashville.
Upon his retirement, Good Night Shirt was one of only three jumpers to earn more than $1 million (joining McDynamo and Lonesome Glory. Since that time Snap Decision has become a member of that elite group). Among his 10 stakes wins were eight Grade 1s: two Colonial Cups; two Iroquois; two Lonesome Glorys; the Georgia Cup; and American Grand National.
A 2017 Hall of Fame inductee, Good Night Shirt's biography includes a quote from Via, who addressed the audience that day: "What a ride he took us on. To be fortunate enough to be associated with a horse the quality of Good Night Shirt was truly a blessing, You don't see ones like him come along very often. Good Night Shirt was my once-in-a-lifetime horse."
Harold Anderson Via Jr. was born July 18, 1930 in Charlottesville, Va. He started showing horses with his family as a youngster and hunted with the Farmington Hunt. After high school, Via had a short stint at the University of Virginia, then joined the Navy, where he was assigned to an aircraft carrier. When he wasn't at sea, he was stationed locally where he continued to ride at Cavalier Stables, where he met his eventual wife.
Following his time in the Navy, Via began his lifelong career in the casualty commercial insurance business, and the couple raised their children in Richmond and Virginia Beach. He retired in the mid-1980s and that's when Sonny and Ann moved to Free Union. Via enjoyed renovating old properties and the couple also had a penchant for vintage cars.
He began running horses under his own moniker around 2000, and through the end of 2024 Via had accumulated 43 wins, 51 seconds, and 40 thirds in 276 starts, with total earnings of $2.13 million. Besides Good Night Shirt, Via's best runners were Hinterland, a multiple Grade 1 placed winner of more than $400,000 and Welshman, a G2 winner of nearly a quarter-million dollars. Other notable runners who sported Via's white and teal colors were Tricky Me, Mr. Bombastic, and Worried Man.
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