Wednesday morning at the Kentucky Spring Horse Show opened the first day of hunter/jumper competition for two weeks of the Kentucky Spring Horse Show CSI3* series at the Kentucky Horse Park. Hunter competition was highlighted in the Stonelea Ring with the Green Hunter Incentive Stake with the option to compete at the 3’6” or 3’9” height as riders look to gain points towards the year-end championships in August. Scott Stewart rode to the top of the leaderboard with a score of 89 aboard Stephanie Danhakl’s Castellan to capture the win.
Scott Stewart and Castellan. Photo by Phelps Sports
Stewart and Castellan tackled Wednesday’s class with two seamless rounds in the Green Hunter 3’6” division, where their score of 89 would top the class to serve as his winning round in the Green Hunter Incentive Stake. Castellan, a 7-year-old Westphalian gelding, has only competed in the green divisions a handful of times.
“This is only our third or fourth time doing him in the First Year Hunters,” Stewart shared. “He primarily shows with Stephanie [Danhakl]. She does quite well with him, champion and reserve a couple of times, so today was just to get him ready for her to show on Friday. He’ll probably do the [Green Hunter Incentive] finals here in August.”
Scott Stewart and Everwonder. Photo by Phelps Sports
Stewart continued the morning in the Green Hunter 3’6” division with Everwonder, where their second round score of 88.5 would place them in second in the Green Hunter Incentive Stake. Everwonder, owner by Bikoff Equestrian, LLC, has had top placings with Stewart throughout the winter circuit at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. Third place was captured by Chris Payne and Middleton, owned by Melissa Jacob LLC. The combination scored an 87.5 in the Green Hunter 3’6” division.
The Green Hunter Incentive Program was created by the USHJA in the hopes of increasing participation at the green level. This year, the program introduced the option for athletes to compete at the 3’6’’ and 3’9’’ height in order to attract even more entries. At the end of the year, the top placing horse and rider combinations will be invited to return to the Kentucky Horse Park to compete at the Green Hunter Incentive Championships in August at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show, which will include four fence height options upon adding the 3’6” and 3’9” to the existing 3’ and 3’3” fence heights.
RESULTS
Green Hunter Incentive Program 3’6”/3’9”
Place / Horse / Rider / Owner / Score
1. Castellan / Scott Stewart / Stephanie Danhakl / 89
2. Everwonder / Scott Stewart / Bikoff Equestrian, LLC / 88.5
3. Middleton / Chris Payne / Melissa Jacobs LLC / 87.5
4. Worthy / Kelley Farmer / Oakmont Stables & Glefke, David / 87
5. Gossi / Tim Goguen / Garland Alban / 86
6. Closing Statement / Kelley Farmer / Larry Glefke & Aizlynn Radwanski / 85
7. Sinatra / Jennifer Hannan / Tina Allen / 84
8. Love Note / Scott Stewart / Richard Prant / 84
9. Maverick / Jeff Gogul / Roberts Stables, LLC / 83.5
10. Sports Page / Scott Stewart / Alexa & Krista Weisman / 83.5
11. Kindred / Jennifer Alfano / Kathy Chiaf / 82
12. Rainier / Michael Murphy / Susan Stanley / 81