Zabeel Champion Surges After Last Fence to Win Iroquois

At 3 miles, the $250,000 Calvin Houghland Iroquois Stakes (NSA-1) is the longest top-level steeplechase race in the United States, and late-running Zabeel Champion (GB) needed nearly every yard to win the May 9 event at Percy Warner Park in Tennessee. Fourth exiting the last fence, jockey Freddie Procter dove Zabeel Champion to the inside for the straight, and his mount surged to defeat longtime leader Swore in the closing strides. Ziggle Pops (GB) ran third. "I can't claim credit for the timing," Procter said. "I kept running into traffic and was forced to be patient. But yeah, found a gap in the end." That opening was what Zabeel Champion needed to improve to 2-for-2 on the year for Riverdee Stable. The 9-year-old son of Poet's Voice (GB) kicked off his 2026 campaign by taking the Temple Gwathmey Hurdle Handicap (NSA-2) at Middleburg last month. Those efforts followed a long layoff after he fell in the 2025 Iroquois Stakes. Multiple Eclipse Award-winning turf writer Sean Clancy, who operates Riverdee Stable with his wife, Anne, credited the patience of his Riverdee Stable partners as trainer Jack Fisher brought Zabeel Champion back into top shape. "To win the Iroquois is an honor," Clancy said. A former steeplechase rider, Clancy's association with Fisher goes back to his riding days. He was aboard victorious To Ridley for Fisher in the 1996 Iroquois. "I just have great faith in him, and he has great faith in me," Clancy said. Zabeel Champion, initially campaigned overseas, is now 4-for-9 in U.S. hurdle races. Hascombe and Valiant Stud bred him in Great Britain out of the Galileo mare Stars In Your Eyes (GB).