Boyd, Brunello Hunter Champs

By Staff Report August 18, 2013

There isn’t much room for improvement on a second-place finish, but Liza Boyd managed it, taking the blue in the $170,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship,  Aug. 17 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

It was the fourth appearance at the event for the 34-year-old Boyd, who clinched the win on Brunello, a 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding. The pair concluded Friday’s Classic Hunter Round with 276 points, just 10 points behind the early leaders, Scott Stewart and Garfield.

After a brilliant Handy Hunter round under the lights on Saturday, the duo left all comers in the dust with a stellar 301.75 points for the win. (Stewart and Garfield wound up eighth.)

“I’m really happy for the horse. He deserved it,” said the Camden, SC-based Boyd. Last year’s winners were Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy; Stewart was third.

This year’s competition featured impressive Tier I and II Handy Hunter courses by designer Steve Stephens. The fences and decorations created a feeling of cantering through hunt country, with natural jumps of planks and logs, abundant trees and shrubbery and decorative elements such as carriages and barns. The fence heights ranged from 3’6″ to 4′ and offered riders an opportunity to pick up bonus points by taking any one or all of the four option fences set at a minimum of 4’3″.

The 11-obstacle course featured several areas where riders could show off their handiness with tight turns and rollbacks, a trot fence at 4, and for the grand finale riders could choose the safe route over a 3’6″ oxer or an impressive 4’6″ higher option set in the center of the arena, which offered spectators in the stands a beautiful view.

The final fence became an influential part of the course, with multiple rails down. Boyd and Brunello had a light rub there but otherwise their performance was spectacular.

“I tried to listen when Steve was talking about how he wanted the course to ride,” Boyd said of her strategy. “He said, ‘This is a jumping contest and I don’t want the course to win, I want the riders and the horses to win.’ There were no traps; it was really well done, and I took that to heart. He designed it, and he knew what he had in mind, so that helped me. You needed scope and careful, which is what these derbies are supposed to be.”

Handiness Counts

Kelley Farmer and Mythical, co-owned by Kenneth and Selma Garber and Larry Glefke, won the Tier I Handy Hunter Round and leapfrogged up the standings from sixth to second overall with 571.75 points.

Farmer, of Keswick, VA, was thrilled with the First Year Green hunter in his first Derby Championship. “What about Mythical? He’s mythical, isn’t he?” she said with a smile. “For a first-year horse, he’s an amazing animal. He’s done everything. He tries to step up on the biggest stages. I moved up from sixth to second. He’s an amazing horse who doesn’t let you down.”

New this year was the Tier I and Tier II Handy Hunter Round format. The top 30 pairs returned for action in the $120,000 Tier I Handy Hunter Round, with 14 Tier I entries qualified and 16 Tier II entries qualified.

The $40,000 Tier II Handy Round included a field of 25 riders, with nine jumping for Tier II money only. The scores for the 16 Tier II entries in the Tier I Handy Hunter Round carried over to the Tier II Handy Hunter Round and Overall standings.

The judges included Rick Fancher and Jimmy Torano (Panel 1), Danny Robertshaw and Don Stewart (Panel 2), and Carleton Brooks and Ralph Caristo (Panel 3), who were placed in strategic positions around the Sheila C. Johnson Ring at the Rolex Stadium.

Tier II Titans

Kelsie Brittan, 17, of Westlake, TX, rode Argentum, a 12-year-old Warmblood, to top honors in the $40,000 Tier II USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship with a gorgeous Handy Hunter Round, under the watchful eye of trainer Peter Pletcher.

“I’ve just been doing juniors on him this year, and every now and then there would be derby in Texas or Michigan and I’d do it,” she said. “I’ve been a little bit of a chicken; I’ve been doing the small ones and playing it safe. Since I was here, of course, I thought I’d be like all the top riders and do all the big jumps. I really trust him, and yesterday, too, I just let him show off and tried not to ride him like a junior hunter anymore and more like a derby horse. It’s a big adjustment for me.”

Judge Danny Robertshaw was impressed with Brittan’s partnership with Argentum and praised her after the class.

“I saw her in the pouring rain in Florida [this winter], and I was talking to her mother. And I said it then, and I said it yesterday and today. It’s fun when you see a horse that loves his rider as much as Argentum loves her.”

Shawn Casady, 19, of Harriman, TN, guided HJ Group LLC’s Ascot to second place in the Tier II USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship.

The $10,000 Consolation Round, supported by Moyer Farm LLC, attracted 44 competitors and allowed those who didn’t qualify for the Tier I or Tier II Handy Hunter Rounds to return with a clean slate. Stewart won, riding another mount, Declaration, owned by Fashion Farm.

The class was held at 3 p.m., prior to the Tier I and II Handy Hunter Rounds, and allowed competitors another shot at one of Stephens’ challenging handy hunter courses. Stewart now returns home to Wellington, FL, with a blue ribbon and a consolation prize of $3,000.

Rider bonuses of $2,500 for the Tier I champion and $1,000 for the Tier II champion were also awarded.

USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship Results:
Number Rider Horse Owner Score Round/Judge Score Handy Bonus High Options Round Total
1) Brunello/Elizabeth Boyd T1 R1/J1 88.00 4.00
R1/J2 90.00 4.00
R1/J3 86.00 4.00 276.00
R2/J1 84.25 8.00 4.00
R2/J2 93.00 9.00 4.00
R2/J3 88.50 7.00 4.00 301.75 577.75

2) Mythical/Kelly Farmer T1 R1/J1 86.50   4.00
R1/J2 84.50   4.00
R1/J3 84.25   4.00 267.25
R2/J1 89.00 10.00 4.00
R2/J2 88.50 8.00 4.00
R2/J3 89.00 8.00 4.00 304.50 571.75

3) Argentum/Kelsie Brittan T2 86.00 4.00
85.00   4.00
85.50   4.00 268.50
85.00 6.00 4.00
85.25 7.00 4.00
84.75 5.00 4.00 285.00 553.50

4 ) Ascot/Shawn Casady T2 R1/J1 82.85   4.00
R1/J2 85.50   4.00
R1/J3 85.75   4.00 266.10
R2/J1 84.00 4.00 4.00
R2/J2 85.00 8.00 4.00
R2/J3 85.75 5.00 4.00 283.75 549.85

5) CR Beethoven/Martien van der Hoven T2 R1/J1 83.65 4.00
R1/J2 77.95 4.00
R1/J3 78.25 4.00 251.85
R2/J1 81.00 9.00 4.00
R2/J2 85.50 10.00 4.00
R2/J3 85.50 9.00 4.00 292.00 543.85

6 ) San Angelo/Peter Pletcher T1 R1/J1 80.50 4.00
R1/J2 82.50 4.00
R1/J3 83.50 4.00 258.50
R2/J1 81.50 8.00 4.00
R2/J2 82.00 8.00 4.00
R2/J3 84.25 6.00 4.00 281.75 540.25

USHJA International Hunter Derby Consolation Round Results:

1) Declaration/Scott Stewart T1 R2/J1 89.00 9.00 3.00
R2/J2 88.00 10.00 3.00
R2/J3 87.00 9.00 3.00 301.00 301.00

2) Inclusive/Victoria Colvin T1 R2/J1 87.00 8.00 4.00
R2/J2 84.00 7.00 4.00
R2/J3 84.75 8.00 4.00 290.75 290.75

3) Dinner For Two/Rebecca Reyes T2 R2/J1 88.00 8.00 3.00
R2/J2 85.00 7.00 3.00
R2/J3 84.50 7.00 3.00 288.50 288.50

4) Taken/Kelly Farmer T1 R2/J1 81.25 6.00 4.00
R2/J2 87.00 8.00 4.00
R2/J3 81.50 9.00 4.00 284.75 284.75

5) Tilou/Meredith Darst T2 R2/J1 86.50 8.00 3.00
R2/J2 74.50 10.00 3.00
R2/J3 87.50 9.00 3.00 284.50 284.50

6) Seneca/Kathleen Caya T2 R2/J1 86.00 7.00 4.00
R2/J2 82.00 7.00 4.00
R2/J3 82.50 8.00 4.00 284.50 284.50

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