Ocala, FL – The Standlee/USHJA National Hunter Derby Regional South Championships took over the WEC Stadium at World Equestrian Center – Ocala, featuring two highly competitive hunter derbies: the $20,100 Standlee/USHJA National Hunter Derby Regional South Championship – Open and the $20,100 Standlee/USHJA National Hunter Derby Regional South Championship – Junior/Amateur. Hoping to impress an esteemed panel of judges, including Richard Slocum, Dianne Grod, Joy Lampert, and Mindy Coleman, 54 talented combinations tackled challenging tracks crafted by course designer Dean Rheinheimer.
Hunter Derby Friday commenced with the $20,100 Standlee/USHJA National Hunter Derby Regional South Championship – Open. Twenty-seven horse-and-rider combinations competed for top honors, and 20 of the highest-scoring pairs were invited back for the handy round.
Timothy Maddrix clinched the top title with his promising young partner, Chesney (Bisquet Balou Vd Misplaere x Tinky Winky Van’t Laerhof Z), owned by Lee Cesery. Maddrix and the seven-year-old gelding earned an impressive first-round score of 188.5.
“He’s only done the pre-greens twice, but we decided to enter him here because he’s very brave. We thought he’d enjoy the big ring, and he did,” Maddrix shared. “He was second after the first round yesterday, which was his first handy ever, so he was a little confused, but he got it together today,” he added with a laugh.
Maddrix had two attempts in the handy round to reclaim the top spot. Initially leading with his other mount, Legend, owned by Missy Nolen, Maddrix was temporarily unseated by Tracy Fenney aboard MTM Farm’s MTM Knock Out. Determined to regain the lead, Maddrix commented, “I thought Legend did well, but then Tracy beat my score, so I knew I had to be as handy as I could be.”
“Luckily, he [Chesney] was super handy, even though he’s inexperienced. He just does what you ask, and he was incredible,” Maddrix noted.
The pair navigated the handy track smoothly, earning a score of 184.2, bringing their total to 372.7 and securing the win.
Maddrix expressed his appreciation for the competition, “This was a great class to prepare for the Incentive Finals later in the summer. It was great to be out in the WEC Stadium, and see if you’re ready or not,” he said. “Allowing 20 to return for the handy round was great, similar to derby finals, making it a perfect class for younger horses or those jumping 3’ or 3’3”.”
Fenney and MTM Knock Out (Star Power x Galina), a nine-year-old Warmblood gelding, finished second with a first-round score of 187.5 and a second-round score of 177.7, totaling 365.2.
Timothy Maddrix also secured third place with Legend, a six-year-old Warmblood gelding. They earned a first-round score of 186 and a second-round score of 178.25, culminating in an overall score of 364.25.
$20,100 Standlee/USHJA National Hunter Derby Regional South Championship – Open Results.
Hayley Waters Wear and Genuine Impress in the $20,100 Standlee/USHJA National Hunter Derby Regional South Championship – Junior/Amateur
In the $20,100 Standlee/USHJA National Hunter Derby Regional South Championship – Junior/Amateur, 27 horse-and-rider combinations showcased their talents, but it was Hayley Waters Wear and Mr. & Mrs. Chuck Waters’ Genuine (Diarado x Kampari W) who emerged victorious with an impressive 19.25-point lead.
Waters Wear and the nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding delivered an outstanding first round, earning the highest score of 194.
“The first round was mostly single jumps. My main focus was to stay organized because the jumps had unrelated distances, but the ring is so big, it’s easy to get on too big of a stride,” she shared.
Heading into the handy round in the lead, Waters Wear received guidance from Timothy Maddrix, this morning’s derby winner. “I had a lot of help from Tim this week. He won the derby this morning, which was the same course, so I just tried to follow his plan for the handy. But I stayed a little more conservative because of Genuine’s first-round scores.”
Their handy round score of 183.5 and an overall total of 377.5 secured the winning title, leading Waters Wear and Genuine to the victory gallop.
“I thought the class was great! It was awesome to have a championship as well as the other derbies this week,” she said. Waters Wear looks forward to continuing to compete with Genuine at World Equestrian Center – Ocala this summer.
Ella Bostwick and Christine Bostwick’s eight-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding, K&T Game Of Thrones (Gamelus R x E Titty De Laubry), claimed second place with a first-round score of 177.25 and a handy score of 181 for an overall total of 358.25.
Audrey Muscari and her seven-year-old Zangersheide gelding, Emerson Van De Meulenberg Z (Emerald Van’t Ruytershof x Cheng Lee Van Berkenbroeck), secured third place with a first-round score of 165 and a handy score of 173, totaling 338.
Josephine Demmo received the Leading Junior Rider Award aboard her own Curtis 89 with an overall score of 325.7.
$20,100 Standlee/USHJA National Hunter Derby Regional South Championship – Junior/Amateur Results.
Visit HorseShowing.com for final 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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