A Blissful Win for Wailea in $10k USHJA National Hunter Derby

Jennifer Bliss & Wailea. Photo © Sportfot

Wailea, owned by Ohana Equine LLC, has only competed in two hunter derbies throughout her career, but continued her 100% win streak by topping the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, presented by NetJets, with Jennifer Bliss aboard on Friday of Week 7 at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF).

“She’s only done two national derbies and she’s won both of them,” Bliss said of the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare who took naturally to the grass derby field at Wellington International. “She came to us last fall and didn’t have a lot of experience at all. We wanted her to feel confident and have a good experience out there on the field today as it was her first time, and I’m so proud of how she rose to the occasion.”

Wailea cruised around Danny Moore’s hunt-and-go course to scores of 94 and 91, respectively, in the classic and handy portions of the round. Her combined score of 185 gave her the win by a margin of just one point.

Second place was awarded to Clem Brecourt, owned by Tracy Freels and ridden by Hannah Isop of Pawling, NY on a score of 184. Many Moons, owned by Fayetteville Farms, claimed third with Morgan Van Nortwick of Reston, VA aboard on a score of 181.

“We all love this field,” Bliss continued of the change of scenery for derby action this week. “We always plan our schedules a bit around these classes so we can do them. I had not shown her on grass before, so I wanted to get a read on how she’d handle it, and I’m obviously very proud of her.”

Wilton Porter and Larderello Land at the Top in Buckeye Nutrition CSI2* Qualifier

Wilton Porter (USA) is playing his cards right with mount Larderello, owned by Sleepy P Ranch BV, and a slow and methodical approach to building the horse into the international divisions paid off with their biggest win yet in the $32,000 Buckeye Nutrition CSI2* Qualifier.

Porter was one of 16 clear rounds over Anthony D’Ambrosio’s (USA) first-round course and his early draw had him coming back second to show what he could do. “We had a plan for the jump-off to be efficient and use his stride a bit,” Porter explained of his strategy. “That went exactly how I wanted. It was fast; it wasn’t crazy, but they had to catch us. I got very lucky at the end; Chris Pratt had the last one down and that sealed the win for me.”

Grace Debney (GBR) ended up second with Jesprit H.S, owned by Temple Equestrian LLC, and Charlotte Jacobs (USA) claimed third with Korbach van de Renger, owned by North Star.

Porter believes Larderello is a natural winner, and the proof is beginning to show. “I’ve had Larderello since he was 6 years old, and he’s nine now,” he said of the Dutch Warmblood gelding (Arezzo VDL x London). “He’s been a great horse. He can be ridden by lots of different people; he’s really straightforward and he’s won some classes, but this is the biggest win in his career. I think it’s definitely not the last.

“He’s got a great mind,” he continued. “One of my clients, Mary Wickstrom, has ridden him for me and did a great job with him. We’ve taken our time — he’s seen lots of great venues, but we never forced him to go too big too quickly. It’s really paying off now as he’s getting older.”

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