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Devon, PA – June 6, 2011 – For the second year in a row, SBS Farms’ leading duo of Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy proved unstoppable by scoring the winning title during the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby of Devon. Alfano and Jersey Boy led the competition from start to finish by scoring a 184 during the first round and a 200 during the handy round for a total of 384. Their incredible success at the 2011 Devon Horse Show also included the High Performance Working Hunter Championship, and Alfano was presented with the Leading Lady Hunter Rider award for excellent effort during the professional hunter divisions.

“When Jersey Boy wants to win, he really wants to win, and today, he intended on winning,” smiled Alfano after her winning ride in the Derby. “He was a little frisky in the first round, but he came back in the second round and he was just on. He is a great handy horse – his gallop is so loose and natural and he turns so easily, so it’s really fun to do the handy rounds on him, because he’s one of those horses that can gallop and turn at the same time, which I think is rare.”

Owner and trainer Susie Schoellkopf added, “Developing that kind of handiness isn’t something that happens overnight, but is definitely a huge part of being successful in the derbies. Rodney Jenkins always said, ‘When you’re going to do the hard options, you better do them really, really well.’ I think that is a really good point that I have always believed as a judge and a trainer and I think that you have to know how to do it and you have to be able to do it well and make the turns happen.”

Alfano and Jersey Boy are proving to have a banner year in 2011, as the incredible pair already won the 2011 $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Winter Equestrian Festival and the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show. The High Performance Working Hunter Championship preceded their success at the Devon Horse Show Hunter Derby, where Alfano and Jersey Boy earned two first place ribbons and a second place ribbon.

Throughout the week Alfano also competed with her other top mounts, which included Helen Lenahan’s Miss Lucy. The duo won the first over fences class during the Second Year Green Working Hunter division, and also placed third and fourth to take home the division’s reserve championship tricolor. Alfano and Miss Lucy were also successful in the Derby, placing in the Top 10 at the end of the day.

For her excellent results in the professional hunter divisions, Alfano was presented with the Leading Lady Hunter Rider Award. She also earned top ribbons aboard Christa Carson’s Weatherman and Michigan Avenue in the Green Conformation Hunter division and aboard Rose Hill in the First Year Green Working Hunter division.

Based out of Buffalo, NY, SBS Farms’ Susie Schoellkopf and Jennifer Alfano run one of the foremost show hunter training operations in the country, and travel nationwide to compete in the nation’s most prestigious horse shows. Adding to their numerous accolades, Schoellkopf and Alfano both recently received prestigious awards; Schoellkopf was presented with the USHJA Presidents Distinguished Service Award, while Alfano was the highest grossing Hunter Rider in the country, as she earned over $400,000 last year.

For more information on SBS Farms, please visit www.thebtrc.org.

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