Daniel Geitner and Sky Pilot.
Friday the 13th was anything BUT unlucky for Daniel Geitner of Aiken, South Carolina in the irons of Allison Mills’ Sky Pilot who won the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby last night in the Olympic Arena at the Georgia International Horse Park.
Eighteen horse and rider teams took to the hunt on a beautiful course under the lights designed by Joe Carnicum.
After the first round, Tim Maddrix of Birmingham, Alabama sat in the lead with Missy Nolan’s Special and a combined first round score of 176. Geitner and Sky Pilot were right behind Special and Maddrix with a combined first round score of 174. LPF Woodford, owned by LPF, LLC and ridden by Parker Wright, finished their first round on the heels of Sky Pilot and earned a combined first round score of 172.
The Handy round proved to be challenging and significantly reshuffled the final standings.
Kalifornia, owned and ridden by Heather Zuber of Zionsville, Indiana, was first to go in the Handy round and earned a score of 84. Combined with their first round score of 146, the pair would finish in eleventh place overall.
Maddrix and Alina Dumitrescu’s Shutterbug earned a second round score of 115 and, combined with their first round score of 148, would finish in ninth place overall.
Casanova, owned by Ruth Bley and ridden by Elizabeth Boyd of Camden, South Carolina, followed Shutterbug and Maddrix in the Handy Round and earned a score of 144. Combined with their first round score of 159, the pair would move up to finish in sixth place overall.
North C, owned and ridden by Jaime Steinhaus of Milton, Georgia, earned a score of 154 in their Handy Round and, combined with their first round score of 159, moved up to finish in fourth place overall.
Player, owned by Jeanne Pitre and ridden by Thomas Le Blanc of Folsom, Louisiana, followed in the Handy order and earned a score of 97. Combined with their first round score of 160, the pair finished in tenth place overall.
Ricardo, owned and ridden by Audrey Muscari of Germantown, Tennessee, earned a second round score of 189. Combined with their first round score of 161, the pair would move to second place.
Kathryn Jarriel of Collins, Georgia, aboard her own Ava, followed Muscari and Ricardo in the order and earned a second round score of 148. Combined with their first round score of 162, the pair finished in fifth place overall.
Brandon Gibson of Greenback, Tennessee and Select Sport Horses’ Jus D’O earned 183 points in their Handy Round. When combined with their first round score of 166, the pair would move to third place overall.
Steeple Chase Farm, Inc.’s Lucretia, ridden by Taylor Adams of Memphis, Florida, earned a first round score of 167. Combined with their Handy Round score of 75, they would find themselves finishing in eleventh place overall.
Wright and Woodward LPF sat in third position after the first round. However, their Handy Round earned them a score of 116 and they finished in eighth place overall.
Sky Pilot and Geitner were next to go and their second round score of 196 was enough to move them temporarily into first place ahead of Maddrix and Special, with the first round leaders on deck.
Maddrix and Special were the last to go and looked to hold onto their lead. However, their second round score of 119 would find them dropping to seventh place overall and crowning Geitner and Sky Pilot the champions.
Warren and Tasty win the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby
Friday morning saw eighteen horse and rider teams come out to hunt for the blue under sunny skies in the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby. Rebekah Warren and her own Tasty won the class with a combined score of 168.5.
Second place went to Steeple Chase Farm, Inc.’s Zachary, ridden by Taylor Adams, with a combined score of 168. Charlotte Warren’s Enticement, ridden by Julie Curtin, placed third with an overall score of 160.5. An overall score of 158 awarded fourth place to Foremost, owned by August Pines Farm and ridden by Emily Jones. Valentine, owned by Wendy Arndt and ridden by Jessica Thaxton, earned an overall score of 157.5 and picked up the fifth place ribbon while Katie Ramsey and her own Lord Baltimore won sixth place honors with an overall score of 155. An overall score of 154.5 and a seventh place ribbon was awarded to Sara Hunt’s Extraordinaire, ridden by Harrison Ford. Hitchcock, owned by Harbor Hill, LLC and ridden by Curtin, earned an overall score of 141 and finished in eighth place and Simple, owned and ridden by Gianna Cobb, finished in ninth place with an overall score of 140. For all results, click here.
The Classic Company is a USHJA’s Members Choice Award winner, recognized for producing top quality show jumping events in the United States. For more information on Classic Company and its exhibitor-friendly, top quality hunter jumper events, please visit them at classiccompany.com or call them at 843-768-5503.
All sponsorship, marketing and press inquiries should be directed to Lisa Engel, Sponsorship, Marketing and Public Relations Director at lisa@classiccompany.com.
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See you at the ring,
Bob Bell
The Classic Company, Ltd.
www.ClassicCompany.com
Phone/FAX: (843) 768-5503
Post Office Box 1311 Johns Island SC 29457