TRUMP - THE REAL STORY

 On a beautiful Spring day in 1956, in a pasture on a horse farm in Pensylvania, a stallion named Tonga Prince mounted a mare thought to be infertile named Be Trump.   This was a totaly unplanned union but it surprisingly produced a foal the following year.  It was a strong bay colt with a white diamond on his forehead.  He was named Jay Trump after his owner Jay Sensenich and his mother. He was a thoroughbred.  

Jay Trump was sent to a small farm located near two race tracks in West Virginia to be trained.   His first horse race was a disaster.  His jockey accidentally struck him in the eye with his whip causing Jay Trump to crash into a post and severly injuring both horse and jockey.  It was thought that the horse just wasn't cut out for racing.

A jockey named Crompton (Tommy) Smith Jr. was aware of the horse and knew a lady from Indian Hill, near Cincinnati, that was looking for a thoroughbred.  Her name was Mary Stephenson.   She was a member of the Camargo Hunt Club and master of the Camargo hunt for 16 years.  She most wanted to win the Maryland Hunt Cup; an annual timber race - the most prestigious of it's kind in America.  Smith arranged for her to buy the colt for $2,000. 

The horse and jockey went into training for this type of racing.  They were successful right off; winning the Maryland Hunt Cup in 1963 and 1964.  In 1965, she sent the horse and jockey to England for the top race in the world; the English Grand National Steeplechase.   A Scottish horse named Freddie was the 7-2 favorite to win and Jay Trump paid 100-6 for the betting crowd.  Jay Trump just edged out Freddie after the 4-1/2 mile trek was complete.  The horse entered and won the Maryland Hunt Cup again in 1966.   

Jay Trump was the toast of the racing world.  He made the cover of Sports Illustrated and was the star at the National and International Horse Shows.   Mrs. Stephenson retired the horse to her Indian Hill farm where he lived out his days in luxury.  

When the horse died, he was buried at the finish line of the steeplechase track at the Kentucky Horse Farm.  Mrs. Stephenson rests in Spring Grove Cemetery.