Horse racing not for the faint of heart

The Maryland Hunt Cup is the biggest and most demanding event in the world of timber racing. It's the American version of Steeplechase and the course is over three times the length of the Kentucky Derby track. There are 22 wooden fences to jump, some of them five feet high.

timber jockeys roam the rolling hills of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania in the run-up to the Maryland Hunt Cup.

The sport originated in Ireland 250 years ago. It's a sport where horsemen race through the countryside, jumping hedges along the way. The timber fences used in this country are more intimidating.

Paddy Neilson is a jockey and trainer. He won his first major race at 15. His family has been riding and racing since 1875. Paddy won the Maryland Hunt Cup three times.

Joe Davies trains both horses and riders at his Maryland farm. He explains to Charlie Rose that horse racing is not for the faint of heart. In the crucial seconds before liftoff, you can read a horse by watching the ears. If you are quiet and still, the horse doesn't think about you. The horse's ears go forward and he sees the fence perfectly every time. There is an indefinable chemistry that produces something greater than the sum of the parts in horse races.

Joe Davies is a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie.

The rituals of the timber race are similar to what you see at Churchill Downs or Belmont or Pimlico. The crowd is well-heeled, the hats are outrageous, there's tailgating and grazing.

The purse for the Hunt Cup is $100,000, compared to $2 million for Kentucky Derby.

Paddy Neilson's daughter Kathy and her sister Sanna are competitive in timber racing. Kathy won the Maryland Hunt Cup in 2002. Charlie Rose thinks women are good at the sport. They say it plays to women's strengths. It's the adrenaline rush that hooked them on the game. They are self-proclaimed adrenaline junkies.

Sanna Neilson is a professional horseracing competitor. She thinks women are better at it than men.

Kathy Neilson feeds her horses every afternoon.

Kathy Neilson has broken both her wrists and her knee. She is hungry. Jockeys train themselves not to think about the risks.

Haddix lost his rider.

Paddy Nielson broke his jaw and knocked out eight teeth. Mark Beecher has broken his cheekbone, two front teeth, a collarbone twice, dislocated a shoulder twice and broken two ribs here, three ribs down the back and an ankle. James Stierhoff works at a financial firm in Baltimore during the week. He is obsessed with horses.

James Stierhoff won the Maryland Hunt Cup in 2010. He rode Twill Do, a horse he'd never raced before. Billy Meister wanted to ride Twil Do himself, but he was injured in a fall. James Stiehoff was sick with the flu, so Billy convinced him to take the reins.

Stierhoff on Twill Do beat Beecher on Private Attack at the finish.

Stierhoff won the cup in 2010 and again two years later.

James Stierhoff has achieved something that he never thought was possible. His horse Senior Senator is now a star. Before trainer Joe Davies bought him, he was a flat-track racer with a mediocre record and a nasty reputation for acting up. They had to tranquilize him every day to get him out onto the race track. He would throw his jockeys on the way to the start.

Davies and his wife Blythe are a trainer and owner of horses that flamed out on the flat track but show promise as timber racers.

Blythe Miller Davies is riding a horse.

Joe Davies' horse, Senior Senator, is a jumper. He was a terrible jumper before. Joe Davies managed to change his mind and let him run free. He is now a better jumper than before, even without a rider.

The Senior Senator has led a good portion of the race. His biggest challenge came at the 2016 Maryland Hunt Cup.

Joe Davies' horse won the race. Announcer reports that Senior Senator lost the lead in the stretch. Joe Davies explains that the horse didn't need discipline.

Charlie Rose is happy with all the attention. Joe Davies describes him as someone who hangs on the edge of insanity and brilliance. He was a perfect gentleman accepting a sweet potato treat from a stranger.

Charlie Rose is a co-host of "CBS This Morning" and "Person to Person" Rose began contributing to 60 Minutes in 2008.