Lexington, KY – August 6, 2011 – A light breeze helped keep competitors cool as the sun shone brightly over the Stonelea Ring at the Kentucky Horse Park during the Kentucky Summer Classic. Today, the Amateur-Owner Hunter classes came to a close, presenting their championship and reserve championship awards after riders competed for top honors in their respective divisions.
In the Amateur-Owner 18-35 Hunters, Pure Abundance, ridden by Wesley Newlands of Toronto, Canada, made a strong comeback and eventually took home the top honors. Yesterday, the pair won the fourth place ribbon over fences as well as the second place ribbon in the under saddle. Combined with the duo’s third place ribbon in the over fences class and the first place ribbon in the handy today, the talented combination garnered enough points to bring home the championship tricolor.
Newlands has owned Pure Abundance for four years, and believes that a large part of their success is based on the fact that they are finally very solid together as a horse and rider combination. “My rounds today were very solid, and honestly, my horse couldn’t have been any better,” smiled Newlands as she gave her horse a pat. “I can always depend on him when I go into the ring, and he is always trying to win.”
The talented rider and Pure Abundance have had a very successful season. The duo was just named champion at Devon this past year, and Newlands is hoping to continue their success during Indoors. If her rounds today were any sign, then there may not be much hoping involved. “I went for a solid round today in the handy,” she described. “Most people attempted to go through the gap of the white and brown jumps, but I know my horse gets a little spooky, so I went around and it gave me a nice smooth trot jump and led to a solid finish.”