By
Margaret Worrall

            On Saturday, April 25, 2009 before the 113th running of the Maryland Hunt Cup, the Maryland Hunt Cup Association presented Peter Winants, a native Marylander who now lives in Rectortown, Virginia, with the S. Bryce Wing award.

            A silver trophy signifying the award is given in memory of the late S. Bryce Wing, who was a member of the Maryland Hunt Cup Association from 1939 until his death at age 85 in 1975. He was secretary of the Hunt Cup from 1956 to 1966 and also president of the National Steeplechase and Hunt Association (now the National Steeplechase Association) from 1948 to 1964. In addition he was a member of The Jockey Club and a Master of Foxhounds at Elkridge-Harford Hunt Club.

            Beyond his accomplishments, Mr. Wing was revered for his kindness, generosity and charm ---a gentleman who loved the world of horses.

            After his death, the Maryland Hunt Cup Association wanted to do something to remember Mr. Wing. They decided upon an award to recognize people who make a similarly special contribution to Maryland timber racing. They agreed that the award would not necessarily be given every year, but would be given as warranted. The first Bryce Wing award was presented in 1976. In 33 years, the trophy has been awarded just 22 times.

            Following Princeton and a stint in the Army in WWII, Peter Winants, the 2009 Wing recipient, opened a successful photography business in Baltimore, Maryland, with his brother, Garry. In the beginning photographing horses and equine sports were only a small part of their work, but soon Peter Winants added freelance jobs, including writing, fulfilling his pent-up passion for racing, especially steeplechasing.

            After watching Tommy Smith and Jay Trump win the 1965 English Grand National, a book brewed in Winants’ head: Jay Trump, A Steeplechasing Saga, a perceptively written story accented by Winants’ photographs of the event. Then in 1972 Winants became the editor of “The Chronicle of the Horse” magazine in Middleburg, the heart of Virginia horse country.

            Not only did Winants take photographs and write articles for the Chronicle, he also foxhunted, as he had done on My Lady’s Manor in Maryland since age 12, rode timber races, and even competed at dressage and three-day events himself.

            In 1991 Winants retired from the Chronicle after 19 years, and immediately undertook the evolution of the new National Sporting Library, moving from a damp space in the basement of the Chronicle building to a stunning new, self-contained facility of its own.

            Today, Winants has four additional books in print: Flatterer, Foxhunting with Melvin Poe, Steeplechasing, A Complete History of the Sport in North America,  and  The Sporting Art of Franklin B. Voss. Currently he is working on a new book about the renowned Virginia horsewoman and Piedmont Master of Foxhounds, Theodora Randolph.

            Throughout his life Peter Winants has made an extraordinary contribution to Maryland timber racing and to the sport of American steeplechasing as a whole. And what makes this current presentation even more pertinent is that Winants is the stepson of Bryce Wing, and he embodies so perfectly the love of horse and countryside that the Maryland Hunt Cup Association wishes to recognize with this award.