Far Hills Race Meeting Attracts More Than 40,000 [VIDEO]

Revelers come to eat, drink and enjoy the Somerset Hills countryside at 92nd annual event.

By Terry Boudreau
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October 21, 2012

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Hailing from NYC, the Statues of Liberty Calley Speed, Alli Carloni, and Meghan Dillon are at their second Far Hills event.

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Hailing from NYC, the Statues of Liberty Calley Speed, Alli Carloni, and Meghan Dillon are at their second Far Hills event.

Credit Terry Boudreau

A view of Moorland Farms, the site of the 92nd edition of the Far Hills Race Meeting.

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Volunteering at the gate were Mary Diehl, of Hillsborough, and Danette Quinn, of Basking Ridge.

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The trophies were on display prior to post time.

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Lisa Korn, Cranford, Greg Kopyta, Oakland, Gretchen Korn, Cranford, Glenn and Mercedes Korn, Basking Ridge, and Laura Campbell, Cranford, were waiting trackside to get across to their spaces.

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Frank Albanese, of Far Hills, was "representin' in the Hunt."

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Scenes from the Far Hills Race Meeting 2012

Credit Terry Boudreau http://o4.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/PATCH/resize/273x203/http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/patch/d9a07699431637340580c5319575fed2

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The 92nd annual Far Hills Race Meeting drew more than 40,000 Saturday to Moorland Farms. Few seemed to mind the mud that was nearly everywhere, a result of Friday's rainy weather.

"The Hunt," as it's widely known, benefits the Somerset Medical Center in Somerville. Since the 1950s, the event has raised more than $18 million and has helped produce the Steeplechase Cancer Center, named in honor of the event.

Related Topics: Far Hills Race Meeting and The Hunt

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RDC

9:52 am on Sunday, October 21, 2012

I notice that you did not mention the drunks on the trains, roadways and the trouble that the police had throughout the evening hours concerning this event. If this were in morristown I am sure all of this would of been pointed out! So much for fair reporting!

FourScore

10:41 am on Sunday, October 21, 2012

People at the Far Hills race are not drunks.... they are connoisseurs of fine spirits!

Matt S

10:21 am on Sunday, October 21, 2012

half of those people in the pictures are underage

Linda Sadlouskos

12:03 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

Dear RDC -- We're ahead of you on this one. You missed Friday's "Far Hills Races Mean Added Duties for Area Police" which ran on the Basking Ridge Patch and Bernardsville-Bedminster Patch: http://patch.com/A-yL1k
However, having been to the races in previous years I'm sure there were plenty of people enjoying themselves responsibly!

Donna

6:03 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

I've been just once. I found it to be an excuse for overindulging for lots of young (and old) folks. $60 (plus the cost of your food and drink) to go get drunk. 18 million is a nice sum. I would love to see statistics as to how many people have been "saved" by the cancer center.

Motown Resident

6:46 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

RDC- Morristown's St Patrick's Day parade is also a fundraiser. We also have similar crowds and similar problems as "the hunt" with the over indulgence. I'm sure the patch will give "the parade" the fair and balanced reporting we've come to expect.

Kelly

6:48 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

The Hunt is my favorite day of the year. Boo to those who seem to be so inconvenienced by people having a little fun.

Pam

7:55 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

I remember twenty years ago.....it wasn't so much much about young folks getting drunk as it was about what people were serving for gourmet food with candelabras , what people were wearing, whether they had a fox dressed in hunt clothes.....

MMH

8:46 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

Yes, it is a group of tailgate parties, but no one said it wasn't. Have you been to a tailgate at a Giants Game lately??? Not really that much different if you add the table clothes and candelabras. At least the Far Hills Race raises money for a great cause. If you knew someone fighting to survive cancer, you might agree it's all worth it, especially the $60. I am sure the Steeplechase Cancer Center has helped many diagnosed with this ugly disease, as well as their families.

Julie Keating

9:02 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

I thought it was the most horrendous behavior I've ever seen at the hunt. The spot behind us was "oversold" and couldn't handle the crowd. They were coming into our spot, sitting on our chairs & hay bales, standing on them, trying to steal our cups, stealing our candelabras, food and drink. It was disgusting.

Susan

10:24 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

The Hunt is one of my favorite days. It is unfortunate you had an unruly party near you that made it unpleasant, but for the most part, people are responsible and enjoy a great day. Also, it raised a lot of money for a good cause. But yeah, having an unruly spot near you would suck.

ksjp1

2:43 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012

This year was the worst behaved crowd in 25 years. I expect the drunkeness but it was impossible to hear any of the races because of the music being blasted out of many large speakers. Disappointing that they didn't enforce the rules about the music and underage drinking. It has always been such a great event and as a supporter since my early 20's, I am sorry to see it deteriorate so much.

GW

9:33 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

As I was saying to Biff over our Bollinger Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Francaises 1997 this morning, one just cannot keep the lower classes from messing with one's candelabras. One hopes their grubby fingers came nowhere near your Petrossian caviar.

Julie

10:50 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

The hunt is the spoiled brats of far hls frat party. You should have seen the clean up entailed today. Looked like a warzone. Leave it to spolied rich people to leave behind un opened bottles numerous supplies phones etc. Its the over privlaged brats tying to party. Thanks to them I'm set for the year on supplies. I am not returning the I phone. Found it with a bag of coke. Really I bet your mommy and daddy are proud of you!!

GW

11:09 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

Not as proud as your parents must be knowing that their outraged baby stole someone's phone!

Linda Sadlouskos

11:20 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

Question of those who have been going to this event for years. Is it getting rowdier as time goes on?

Susan

11:35 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012

No. I remember back in the day people driving ridiculously drunk and at one point someone getting killed by a drunk driver dragging them under their car. It was late 80s/early 90s. I think the police work very hard to make sure people are not out of control. Yes you always get some people who take it to far. It is not the standard. It is a great day that raises a ton of money for a good cause.

GW

1:38 am on Monday, October 22, 2012

It's always been a drunk-a-thon for well-to-do boozebags. If people feel it's getting "rowdier" it's because they're aging sots who've forgotten the excesses of their own youth.

Julie

2:49 am on Monday, October 22, 2012

If your so drunk and high you leave your phone in a field not stolen. I grew up in nearby basking ridge. I went to High school with these types of people. Just funny how the "richer and classier" one appears to me is really the more ignorant and disrespectful they are.

GW

3:03 am on Monday, October 22, 2012

Julie, your first sentence doesn't quite parse. Your second sentence is slightly readable. Then your third goes straight into Incoherent Village. What you seem to be stumbling to say is that it's just fine to steal a misplaced phone because you assume the owner was a miscreant. Hence, if you leave your purse in a Starbucks, and I don't like your attitude, it's perfectly fine for me to take your money and credit cards, right? Because I've decided I'm a better person than you, and you deserve to be robbed.

Cindy Ruggiero

7:15 am on Monday, October 22, 2012

It is all about what You make it! The new Family section is the place to be. Kids, family, fun, haystacks, space and a fenced in area to keep the disrespectful out!

The day builds tradition and fun for those who know how to do it. AND I am happy to contribute to a cause that helps people.

Bernardsville Resident

9:14 am on Monday, October 22, 2012

I have attended this event which in the past was enjoyable, I tried to navigate my way through downtown Bernardsville, on Saturday evening dodging the overflow of party people looking for an open bar, the event has become a spectacle, one to rival the best episodes of "jersey shore", a bunch of want to be preppy snooki's out for a good time........ Disrespectful of the cause and the and institution it stands for.

Julie

10:06 am on Monday, October 22, 2012

I called the owner. And they could not even provide me there address and acused me of stealing it. I informed them I was not at the hunt and involved with clean up crew. I dropped the phone off at att . Let them deal with contacting that idiot. Nancy with all due respect I would laugh if your child was one of the drunk coke head idiots whose phone I found. Finally, if it was a bunch of black or Spanish kids getting rowdy in a field half would be arrested. But its ok for rich white kids to do it. So glad I've moved out of that area.

Oldtimer

11:36 am on Monday, October 22, 2012

I have not been back to this event since 1987. Back then it is was a nice low key day, it was very enjoyable. Now it is about getting drunk, putting on a show and generally nothing more than a colossal gathering of white trash wannabe's. There are more horses asses in the crowd than on the track.

sally S talk

2:55 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Great comment old timer.
If you are on the hill or chestnut ln, it was a beautiful event. If you ventured over to the war zone, it was bedlam!
The younger kids (20somethings) were jammed in and annoying others. I met a great kid who tagged along with a friend and was 'stuck' there with the drunks. Many of the kids were fine, just too packed in.

D&P

8:55 pm on Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Long live the steepleraces-get it??? Horse racing !yes some of us watch and appreciate that -and put up with the crap to do so

Far Hills Race Meeting Attracts More Than 40,000 [VIDEO]

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Far Hills Race Meeting Attracts More Than 40,000 [VIDEO]

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