Jennifer Bliss, aboard Sugarman, and Daisy Farish, riding Cinemagic, showed their winning ways at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center’s (PBIEC) Equestrian Village on Friday in their respective sections of the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby.
The class pinned two separate sections, an open section and a junior/amateur section, and ran both simultaneously over a course designed by Kenny Krome of Westminster, MD. All 61 hunter competitors took to the venue’s vast grass field to traverse a first course of eleven fences, with the top twelve riders from each group returning for a second round to determine standings. The leading 24 were faced with ten total fences for their second time on the field, including a trot fence and series of bending lines.
Jennifer Bliss and Sugarman. Photo by Sportfot Photography
Bliss piloted her mount of four years, Sugarman, owned by Harris Hill Farm, LLC, to an 84 in the first round and returned to capture the highest score of the handy with a 92, for a combined total of 176 to win the open section of the class. The pair took all four high options in their second round to achieve their top score, with an additional point added for each.
Second went to Schuyler Riley and Golden Glock WS, an entry of Wolfstone Stables & Sales Inc., after the pair received an 85 and an 89, for a red-ribbon total of 174, just missing the win by two points. Laura Bowery took the yellow aboard Prince of Thieves, owned by Stormy Good, with an 83 and a 90, the only other score in the 90s, which totaled 173.
Sugarman, an 11-year-old gelding, accompanied the professional to the blue-ribbon in the same class just last year, and Bliss, who is now based here in Wellington, FL, humorously commented on ‘Sugar’s’ consistency on the derby track.
“We were joking with him that he had to defend his title this week,” said Bliss with a laugh. “I don’t want to jinx myself, but I feel I’ve never had a horse go poorly over here. This is such a fun field to ride on, and I feel like the horses love it. It’s so nice to have a day like this, especially with a horse like Sugar, who we have had for a long time and have a lot of history with.”
Jennifer Bliss and Sugarman in their presentation ceremony. Photo by Sportfot Photography
Following a successful stint in the Pre-Green and First Year divisions, and his first-ever time international derby competition at WEF in 2015, Sugar sustained an injury that required a lengthy amount of recovery time. The gelding’s win last year was only his second time back in the show ring following his time off, and today’s blue marked another step in the right direction.
“He really loves this venue,” said Bliss. “We just try to save him and show him sparingly because we have had some bad luck and bumps in the road with him in the past. He is very special to us and, at this point, we are just happy to have him back in form and feeling good, and we are looking forward to having some fun with him again. We will probably just continue to aim for some more national derbies for now, and then, if he continues to feel good, we may step him back up to the international derbies. For now, we are happy just letting him tell us what he wants to do.”
Final Results: $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby Open Section
1 2593 JENNIFER BLISS, SUGARMAN, HARRIS HILL FARM, LLC
R1/J1 84.00 84.00
R2/J1 88.00 4.00 92.00 176.00
2 6116 SCHUYLER RILEY, GOLDEN GLOCK WS, WOLFSTONE STABLES & SALES, INC.
R1/J1 85.00 85.00
R2/J1 85.00 4.00 89.00 174.00
3 3031 LAURA BOWERT, PRINCE OF THIEVES, STORMY GOOD
R1/J1 83.00 83.00
R2/J1 86.00 4.00 90.00 173.00
4 3646 AUDREY ROBISON, CALIBER Z, MARCUS EQUESTRIAN ENTERPRISES LLC
R1/J1 81.00 81.00
R2/J1 82.00 4.00 86.00 167.00
5 2188 LISA REX, FABRICIO 23, OVER THE TOP STABLES LLC
R1/J1 83.50 83.50
R2/J1 79.00 4.00 83.00 166.50
6 4661 SCHUYLER RILEY, INTEGRITY, WOLFSTONE STABLES & SALES INC
R1/J1 77.50 3.00 80.50
R2/J1 81.00 4.00 85.00 165.50
7 5829 KATHERINE NEWMAN, CASTLE, ULSTER/GSA
R1/J1 79.00 79.00
R2/J1 84.00 84.00 163.00
8 1200 LISA RICHTER, HAVANA, TAKE THE HIGH ROAD, LLC
R1/J1 79.00 79.00
R2/J1 77.00 4.00 81.00 160.00
9 4951 CYRAN ITZKOVITZ, ENDEAVOR, ELLIE O’HEANEY
R1/J1 83.00 83.00
R2/J1 68.00 4.00 72.00 155.00
10 7040 JULIE OLIVER, BOSSA NOVA, JULIE OLIVER
R1/J1 87.00 87.00
R2/J1 63.00 2.00 65.00 152.00
11 7455 REBECCA GIBSON, BETTER THAN GOLD, SAUNDRA HENDRICKSON
R1/J1 71.00 3.00 74.00
R2/J1 66.00 4.00 70.00 144.00
12 6180 TIFFANY HAMMACK, GT 40, ROGER L SCHRAMM
R1/J1 84.00 1.00 85.00
R2/J1 EL 85.00
Daisy Farish and Cinemagic. Photo by Sportfot Photography
The Junior/Amateur section awarded the blue to Daisy Farish and Cinemagic, owned by Meralex Farm, Inc., who led both cards with an 88 and a 93 to a total of 181, which included eight additional points from all high options.
“I think we really pulled it off,” said the 17-year-old of Versailles, KY. “I don’t do a lot of hunter competition myself because I don’t own any hunters, so whenever I get to ride a special horse like Cinemagic, and we get to do a fun class like this, it’s an amazing experience. We just really wanted to come back strong in the second round, and he was being amazing, so it was up to me to hold it together.”
Farish praised the Westphalian gelding, who has proven himself many times in the Junior Hunter 16-17 division, for his experience in the ring.
“He has kind of been there, done that,” said Farish. “I just started showing him at the beginning of circuit and I have been able to have lots of fun with him. I think that doing all the high options helped me a lot today, but he is also a very handy horse and jumped some of those fences incredibly, so I think that it was ultimately his style that set us apart.”
Daisy Farish and Cinemagic in their presentation ceremony. Photo by Sportfot Photography
The second-place ribbon went to Meredith Lipke and her entry, For Love, with an 83 and an 84 from the judges, for a 167 total. John Yozell and Aiden finished third with a total of 166, following a 79 and an 87 from the judges.
Final Results: $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby Jr/Am Section
1 1502 DAISY FARISH, CINEMAGIC, MERALEX FARM, INC
R1/J1 84.00 4.00 88.00
R2/J1 89.00 4.00 93.00 181.00
2 2946 MEREDITH LIPKE, FOR LOVE, MEREDITH LIPKE
R1/J1 79.00 4.00 83.00
R2/J1 80.00 4.00 84.00 167.00
3 3675 JOHN YOZELL, AIDEN, JOHN YOZELL
R1/J1 76.00 3.00 79.00
R2/J1 83.00 4.00 87.00 166.00
4 2506 STEPHANIE BULGER, MAYFAIR, STEPHANIE BULGER
R1/J1 80.00 4.00 84.00
R2/J1 77.00 3.00 80.00 164.00
5 1459 ALLIAH KASSEM, C BEYOND, BIJOUX SHOW STABLES
R1/J1 77.00 4.00 81.00
R2/J1 78.00 4.00 82.00 163.00
6 2598 HILLARY JEAN, WITH GRATITUDE, HILLARY JEAN
R1/J1 82.00 82.00
R2/J1 79.00 79.00 161.00
7 7462 LISA BAUGH, KINGS ROAD, NANCY BATTER
R1/J1 78.00 4.00 82.00
R2/J1 70.00 4.00 74.00 156.0
7 2741 TRACY THOMSON, HOUDINI, PATRICIA RAYNES
R1/J1 81.00 4.00 85.00
R2/J1 67.00 4.00 71.00 156.00
9 6618 LISA BUTZER, PURE IMAGINATION, PONIES & PALMS SHOW STABLES LLC
R1/J1 80.50 4.00 84.50
R2/J1 66.00 4.00 70.00 154.50
10 7205 KATARINA MUHLHAUSER, CALVARON, KATARINA MUHLHAUSER
R1/J1 74.00 4.00 78.00
R2/J1 40.00 4.00 44.00 122.00
11 236 SIENA VASAN, NAMESAKE, PALM PONIES LLC
R1/J1 75.50 2.00 77.50
R2/J1 38.00 1.00 39.00 116.50
12 2828 SAMANTHA KARP, ZENTINA B, SAMANTHA KARP
R1/J1 75.00 4.00 79.00
R2/J1 WD 79.00
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