Annual Far Hills Race Meeting Attracts Trinity Students

Hope Gillan ’18
Staff Writer
The 96th Annual Far Hills Race Meeting, better known as the “Hunt,” is a steeplechase horserace held every fall in Far Hills, New Jersey. On Saturday Oct. 15, college students separated from the designated “Family Areas” and VIP tents to gather to drink, dance, and experience racing culture. The Hunt is a destination for all students and alumni along the East Coast. What most people don’t know about the Hunt is that it has donated more than $18 million to the Somerset Health Care Foundation, which supports Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset. Most of this $18 million goes towards the hospital’s cancer treatment center. Tickets for the event are $100 and are sold all over New Jersey, in a few locations in New York, and  online.
The gates to the event opened at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, and most race goers stayed until the final race, which began at 5 p.m. Every year, individuals, schools, and fraternities rent out separate plots so that they can congregate with their friends without losing them in the fray of the East Coast tailgaters.
The event was live streamed, a new feature added this year. It also had countless vendors including 13 food trucks offering waffles, tacos, and crepes – to name a few. Many other tailgates provided enough food to feed an army. The Far Hills Race Meeting has plans to add parimutuel betting system for the 2017 event.
Danielle Soviero ’18 attended the event and said, “the weather was absolutely perfect, I was able to get on a last-minute bus to NJ and can’t say I regret it. What’s so awesome about the Hunt is that you get to see people and friends from other schools. Being off campus at such a big event was also a nice change of scenery.”
The Hunt is one of the most anticipated events of the fall and is an incredible fundraising event that many Trinity students and alumni take part in. It seems to be increasing in popularity, sure to make next year an even grander experience.