Bruton Street-US announced the retirement of champion steeplechase horse Snap Decision (Hard Spun), the second-leading earner in United States steeplechase history. The 11-year-old gelding concludes his career after a distinguished run under trainer Jack Fisher.
Bred in Kentucky by Phipps Stable, Snap Decision amassed an impressive record of 17 wins from 32 starts over hurdles between 2019-2025. His career includes eight second-place finishes and two third-place showings, with total earnings of $1,258,150 — second only to Hall of Famer McDynamo’s $1,310,104 in North American steeplechase history.
The retirement decision came following a 2025 campaign that included four starts, highlighted by a victory in the Grade 2 Temple Gwathmey Handicap in April and a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Iroquois Steeplechase in May. Snap Decision made his final competitive appearance at the Grade 1 American Grand National at Far Hills, N.J., finishing fourth on October 18.
Snap Decision earned the Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser of 2024 and was a finalist for the honor in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020. His decorated career features five Grade 1 stakes victories and 15 stakes wins overall. He led the National Steeplechase Association annual earnings table twice, in 2022 and 2024.
His 17 North American wins match the total of Lonesome Glory and exceed those of McDynamo, Good Night Shirt, and other top earners in the discipline.
Before transitioning to steeplechasing, Snap Decision competed on the flat for Phipps and trainer Shug McGaughey, making 18 starts with two wins and placing in a Grade III turf stakes. The gelding boasts an impressive pedigree as a grandson of champion Personal Ensign and out of Salute, who also produced Grade I winner Mr Speaker and Grade III winner Vigilantes Way.
Snap Decision’s 2024 championship notably ended a streak of nine consecutive Eclipse Awards earned by horses bred in Britain, Ireland or France. The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association recognized him as its Kentucky-bred steeplechase champion five times.
The champion will now transition to a potential career as a foxhunter with Fenwick, located near Fisher’s Maryland base.
“The hope is he will just become part of the community of horses we have on the farm,” said co-owner Charlie Fenwick, a former trainer and amateur steeplechase jockey. “He will get ridden regularly and will see the hounds before the end of this hunting season. That’s the goal, let him see the hounds, let him see what he thinks and how he wants to behave and hopefully that’s a new life for him. If that’s not something he wants to do, he’ll hack around the farm.”
