He gives owner Irv Naylor his third win in the timber stakes.

Even at the age of 13, Salmo still has the ability to surprise. The seasoned campaigner bested a good field of timber horses to capture his second Virginia Gold Cup title in three years on May 2.

Salmo’s trainer Desmond Fogarty opted to run him just twice on the flat this season, with no previous starts over fences. At the Marlborough Hunt Races (Md.), he placed sixth out of eight. Then he ran at the Fairfax Hunt Point-To-Point (Va.) and was never better than 10th out of 11 starters.