Tax Ruling seeks third straight win in Iroquois

The longest Grade 1 steeplechase in the country, the $150,000

Calvin Houghland Iroquois over three miles, will be renewed Saturday at Percy Warner

Park in Nashville, Tennessee. Seeking an unprecedented third straight win in the

Iroquois is Tax Ruling, a nine-year-old son of the recently deceased Dynaformer.

Winner of the 2010 Iroquois by 4 3/4 lengths over Slip Away, who would go on

to be named champion of the division that year, Tax Ruling had a five-length

advantage on the same rival in last year's edition. The Irv Naylor-owned gelding

later added the Grade 1 Colonial Cup to close out 2011, but finished second to

Grade 1 Grand National winner Black Jack Blues in the Eclipse Award balloting

for champion steeplechaser. The Iroquois will mark his first start since that 1

1/4-length tally in Camden, South Carolina.

"He's doing really well," trainer Brianne Slater told Steeplechase Times

on Wednesday. "He's had his last work, his last everything, the rest is up to

him. It's a good sign when he's absolutely crazy to ride, and he tries to buck

everyone off in the mornings now. Physically, he's ready to run as he's run

there before. I worry whether he's going to be fit enough for that last little

bit against some good horses who have had a jump run this year."

In a race that dates to 1941, no horse has won the Iroquois three times.

After the race received a substantial purse increase in the 1980s, some of the

standouts that failed in their quest for a three-peat included Census, Victorian

Hill, Mistico, Rowdy Irishman, Sur La Tete and two-time divisional champion Good

Night Shirt.

Among those opposing Tax Ruling are Pierrot Lunaire, winless in seven starts

since his upset score in the 2009 Iroquois; Arcadius, a divisional leader in

2010 who finished third in the November 19 Colonial Cup last time; Divine

Fortune, winner of the last two runnings of the Grade 2 A.P. Smithwick Memorial

at Saratoga; and Decoy Daddy, a multiple graded stakes winner last season.

Saturday's program at Percy Warner Park also features the Grade 2, $75,000

Marcellus Frost at two miles. While defending champion Decoy Daddy steps up in

class for the Iroquois, the Marcellus Frost instead features Via Galilei, who

captured his U.S. debut in the Grade 3 Temple Gwathmey at Middleburg, Virginia,

on April 21. Grade 1 veterans Sermon of Love and Spy in the Sky, as well the

Grade 3-winning Temple Gwathmey runner-up Country Cousin are the other main

contenders in a field of five.