hunt cup

a horse race held in hunt valley maryland at shawan downs annually on the last sat-rday in april. its basically an excuse for all the catholic school kids from towson (loyola, chc, ndp, maryvale, etc.) to get a couple kegs of beer from alumni of their schools and cram as many other kids into their suburbans as they can fit as it costs $35 to park per vehicle. the kids don’t even go to the actual races, it’s just an excuse for them to tailgate all day beside others of the likes and their parents and teachers (bersin/ viola). it is given that you smoke as much weed before arriving as you possibly can… that is about an oz per suburban. upon leaving, every other car is either a baltimore county cop or a suburban or jeep. you are bound to see a few crashes of high school kids’ mud covered cars on the way home from hunt cup as all the kids are barely sober enough to open their cell phones, much less drive a car. nonetheless, a good time for all.
“hey guidera, you got the kegs covered for hunt cup!?”
umm not quite…it’s not held at shawan, that’s the legacy chase. but the rest is mostly correct.

can simply be defined as “six hours of drinking, preppy kids, and horses.” many teenagers give up their friday night before the race to prepare ‘ruit tables and tents, not to mention prepare their bodies to endure the intense drinking that they are about to encounter.

the maryland hunt cup takes place in glyndon, maryland every year on the last sat-rday of april. it is known as the one day of the year when you cannot be held accountable for any actions that you make.

preppy kids from schools all over baltimore, including gilman, bryn mawr, garrison forest, roland park, boys’ latin, calvert hall, st. paul’s, etc. unite and form one giant party in the patron lot, which each of their parents paid $75 for a p-ss. it literally looks like a polo/lilly pulitzer ad. many set up tents, some bring kegs, and some even make southsides, a traditional hunt cup alcoholic beverage.

there is only one rule at hunt cup: “no weed.” as the cops will not stand for that. this rule was broken many a time last year beneath the infamous 1,200 sq. foot blue tarp made by the gilman sophemore cl-ss.

the world-cl-ss steeplechasing draws some away from the party around 4:00. but others stay for the remaining half hour of the 6-hour party.

local police have a policy at hunt cup: “it’s fine as long as it’s in a cup.” parents also understand the goings on and importance of hunt cup, as everyone’s parents went there too as teenagers.

hardcore hunt cup-goers start at 10 and finish at 4:30, when the road blocks for the race are lifted and the state cops come in and clear out the lot. no-one is able to drive home safely, so partyers who live nearby open-up their mansions for sober-up parties.
parents: “hey guys how was hunt cup?”
teenagers: “awesome”
parents: “who won the race?”
teenagers: “what race?”
parents: “thought so.”