Lexington, KY – August 4, 2010 – High temperatures made for an intense final day of competition for the USEF Junior Hunter Finals at the Kentucky Horse Park. Today’s classic round determined both Reserve Champion and Champion for each division, as well as overall High Point Mare, Reserve Grand Champion and Grand Champion. Today’s course was designed by Bobby Murphy and involved multiple bending lines, rollback combinations, a triple combination down the diagonal towards the in-gate, and finally a strong gallop to an oxer.
Small 15 & Under Junior Hunters were first in the order of go and it was 15-year-old Caitlin Ziegler aboard Safari making a comeback from the Handy Round to receive scores 87-86-86 for a total of 259 and the blue ribbon in the Classic Round. Ziegler and Safari, an eight-year-old Hanoverian, earned an overall score 634.5 points, which was good enough to claim division championship. Shawn Casady and Scout, owned by Mattie Warsham, came out of the Classic Round in fourth and received the reserve championship prize with 629.5 points. Hanging on for third in the division was Meg O’Mara and Fernwalk, owned by Don Stewart, finishing with 622.5 points.