Steeplechase racing returns to Monmouth Park on Thursday following a one-year hiatus, with three jump races highlighting the eight-race card. 

All three Steeplechase races will be contested at 2 and 3/8ths miles with eight jumps over National Fences. The rail for the turf course for all three events will be at 24 feet. 

Headlining the trio of Steeplechase races is a $35,000 handicap that goes as the 5th race. It has attracted a field of 11, with the Richard Hendriks-trained Cheers to Us the 7-2 morning line favorite off his 17-length romp in the James M. Moran Jr. Handicap on May 19 during the Radnor Hunt Races in Malvern, Pa. 

Steeplechase races will also go as the 1st and 3rd races on the program. Both are maiden races for 4-year-olds and up carrying a $30,000 purse. A field of nine is set for each. 

The jumpers’ return to Monmouth Park marks the 21st stop during a 37-day National Steeplechase Association schedule that runs from March 24 to Nov. 11. 

On the Thoroughbred side, a field of seven 2-year-old first-time starters debut in the 4th race, a Maiden Special Weight event for Jersey-breds at 5½ furlongs. 

First race post at Monmouth on Thursday is 1:15 p.m.