Andy Kocher and Red Lady.
The $5,000 Horseflight Open Welcome Class kicked off the high jump action Thursday Week III of the Gulf Coast Winter Classic Pensacola Circuit. Sixteen horse and rider teams tackled the course designed by Paul Jewel of Lambertville, New Jersey. Jewel set the first round time allowed at 83 seconds and the second round at 45 seconds.
Andy Kocher, of Ocala, Florida, continued his Week II winning streak and added the Week III $5,000 Horseflight Open Welcome blue ribbon to his resume in the irons of his own Red Lady, after posting double clear rounds in times of 75.347 seconds and 33.482 seconds, respectively. He returned to the winner’s circle for second place in the irons of Eagle Valley Partners’ Coconut after posting double clear rounds in times of 76.562 seconds and 33.680 seconds.
“Red Lady is thirteen. She’s been ridden by a lot of good riders and she knows the drill,” commented Kocher. “I got her in England last October but we just started showing her,” he said. “She needed to get fit and conditioned, and her feet needed attention too. She’s going great and she just keeps getting better and better every time,” Kocher said.
“Paul Mcteer owns her and he owns some of the other ones I ride,” added Kocher. “It would be great if she won the Grand Prix this Sunday, but who knows? I’m riding a lot of great horses here,” he said.
Kocher, recipient of the USHJA 2014 and 2015 Dash for the Cash award, rode five horses in the class and besides grabbing first and second place ribbons, earned eighth and tenth placings in the irons of BTW Entertainment & Sales’ Rooney IV and Craig Morrison’s Four Roses Di Vie Z.
Kocher has eleven horses with him in Pensacola. “We had a really great day today; the weather was perfect and just awesome,” he said. “One of the girls I teach, Sarah Dees, just moved up to the Junior Amateur level last week and won her first class with her horse Rico S today and everyone at the barn was really excited about that,” he added.
Lauren Hester of Lexington, Kentucky and Hester Equestrian’s Clueless P posted double clear rounds in times of 75.008 seconds and 34.147 seconds, respectively, and took third place honors.
Helen Gilbert’s Emir D, ridden by Shannon Hicks of Lake Saint Louis, Missouri, earned fourth place after going double clean in times of 78.605 seconds and 36.317 seconds.
Francois Lamontagne, of Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada, in the irons of his own Chanel Du Calvaire, took the fifth place ribbon with double clear rounds in times of 79.547 seconds and 36.784 seconds, while Specialized, owned by Missy Nolen and ridden by Tim Maddrix of Leeds, Alabama, grabbed sixth place honors after posting back to back clean rounds in times of 77.846 seconds and 37.713 seconds. Christian Rogge of Spring, in the irons of his own Cassuro Tsp, earned seventh place honors after posting double clean rounds in times of 78.232 seconds and 39.979 seconds, respectively.
The Gulf Coast 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 Gulf Coast Classic Company and its exhibitor-friendly, top quality hunter jumper events, please visit them at www.gulfcoastclassiccompany.com.
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