Ocala, FL – The derby series returned to Hunter 1 on Friday during Week VII of the 2025 Winter Spectacular Show Series with 77 entries between the three classes: the $20,000 Golden Ocala 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby, the $15,000 UF Veterinary Hospital USHJA National 3′ Open Hunter Derby and the $15,000 USHJA National 3’ Jr/Am Hunter Derby. Course designer Tucker Williamson designed tracks with flowing bending lines and tight inside options, challenging horses’ handiness and adjustability.
The third and final class of the day welcomed 16 riders for the $20,000 Golden Ocala 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby. Daniel Geitner had a successful day, claiming first place with Lynn Seithel’s Walk The Moon and second place with Laura Cramer’s Easy Money.
Walk The Moon, a 15-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Chap, is a seasoned horse with plenty of top placings under his belt. “His barn name is Moon Pie. I’ve been showing him for a while. He’s won a lot – we were champion at indoors and champion at Devon. He’s just been a winning horse for us and Lynn, his owner. Last week, we did his first derby, and he was great. A little green, but today, he was just locked right in,” Geitner shared about the gelding.
Geitner was pleased with the first course, saying “It was very nice. Related distances, but most of the lines were bending. If you wanted to gallop, you just stayed a little wide, and you could keep galloping down the lines, so that made it nice.” The pair executed a neat first round, landing in second place with a score of 91.
In the handy round, Geitner rode an impressive inside track on Easy Money early in the order, taking the lead and setting the pace for the rest of the field. Many other horse-and-rider pairs attempted his turns, but only Geitner could best himself. “I knew Moon Pie is more experienced with handys, and he just followed me right around. And it was fast. I mean, if you made all those turns, it was not a long track by any means. But it was nice, and being able to gallop the last jump is always fun.” Securing a second-round score of 91, Geitner and Walk The Moon rocketed into first place with a cumulative score of 182.
$20,000 Golden Ocala 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby Results
Riley Babb and CMS Jackpot Win Big in the $15,000 UF Veterinary Hospital USHJA National 3’ Open Hunter Derby
Friday morning brought beautiful weather and great competition to Hunter 1 as 23 horse-and-rider combinations entered for a chance to take home the top prize in the $15,000 UF Veterinary Hospital USHJA National 3′ Open Hunter Derby. Riley Babb rode away with the blue ribbon after navigating two seamless rounds aboard CMS Jackpot (Cola x Pialotta), a coming seven-year-old Warmblood gelding owned by Jai Smith Rezac.
Donning pink braids for Valentine’s Day, CMS Jackpot, or “Jack”, was dressed to impress. Babb was confident the flashy young horse had the skills to navigate the track easily. “I wanted to be smooth and have a nice rhythm. He has such a nice canter and is easy to see the jumps off of, so I know if I do my part with the rhythm and the track, he sorts out the rest. He’s awesome because he’s always kind of looking for where he’s going next, so I knew if I did my part, he would do his.” Jack and Babb floated around the course on a long, beautiful stride, ending the first round with a score of 92 to top the leaderboard.
As they prepared to return for the handy round, Babb strategized the best track for his horse. “I was planning to be smooth and medium-handy. He is six, and he’s big. As amazing as he is, I thought being conservative and making it all match was more important for him than it was to be super tidy and turn.” The duo navigated the second course with ease to earn a score of 86. Combined with their first score of 92, Babb and Jack held their lead to win with a two-round total of 178.
Though Jack is young, he has shown natural talent in the hunter rings so far. “We got him as a five-year-old and started in the young hunters,” Babb reflected on their partnership. “Now, he does the 3’3” Greens. He doesn’t care about the rings or the jumps, so I know I can trust him. He has an amazing way of looking for where he’s going and loves to hunt the jumps.”
$15,000 UF Veterinary Hospital USHJA National 3’ Open Hunter Derby Results
Rebecca Love and Next Chapter Turn the Page in the $15,000 USHJA National 3’ Jr/Am Hunter Derby
The $15,000 USHJA National 3’ Jr/Am Hunter Derby saw 38 horse-and-rider combinations take to the ring on Friday afternoon, but it was Rebecca Love who rode away with top honors aboard Ral-Star LLC’s Next Chapter, a 13-year-old Holsteiner mare by Lotus T x Sophia.
It was a special day for the pair, as Next Chapter, or ‘Sophie’, recently returned to the showring after an injury last fall. The Georgia-based rider was excited to have the mare back in action and knew she was ready to compete. “We went in, I just got my pace for the first jump, and then I just kept it there. She’s very good once she’s in gear. She has an easy change, she gets down the lines, and she jumps great every time.” The duo earned a score of 89, putting them in fourth place after the first round.
The top scores were all close, and Love knew she and Sophie had a chance of climbing the rankings. “I was sitting close to the top, so I watched a few go to see what turns everyone was taking. When I saw that everybody was taking all the inside turns, I knew I needed to go for it.” They navigated the handiest track possible with ease, riding to a score of 88. Their cumulative score of 177 was good enough for the pair to lead the victory gallop.
“I just love it here. It’s really cold in Atlanta, for my standards,” Love laughed, reflecting on her experience WEC. “So it’s nice to come down here, and this facility is just amazing. Everything about it. Sophie loves it here.”
$15,000 USHJA National 3’ Jr/Am Hunter Derby Results
Explore the daily class schedule, orders of go, class counts, and final results on HorseShowing.com. For real-time scoring, check out Ryegate.Live.
Photos courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.
Videos available at ClipMyHorse.TV
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