WATCH: Augusta Iwasaki and News Flash Earn Grand Regular Pony Championship at Pony Finals

Augusta Iwasaki and News Flash

The largest class of the week with nearly 160 entries, the Medium Regular Pony Hunters took over the Walnut Ring for the large majority of the day, but it all came down to the last two riders to tackle Bobby Murphy’s hunter course. Sitting in second position after the model and hack portions of competition, Iwasaki and Tessa Downey’s News Flash were the second-to-last pair to enter the ring, and they delivered with a score of 256.15. Their performance proved strong enough to claim the win in the over fences class as well as propel them ahead of the original division leader, Caroline Signorino and Hannah Hoch’s Anisette.

With an overall score of 1025.63, Iwasaki and “Flash” not only earned the championship in the Medium Regular Pony Hunters, but also boasted the Overall Grand Champion Regular Hunter Pony honors as the highest-scoring pair of the three Regular Pony Hunter division champions throughout the week.

Iwasaki was surely the most decorated hunter rider of the week, as she also claimed the Overall Reserve Champion Green Hunter Pony aboard Quartet Farm LLC’s gelding Butterscotch, coincidentally scoring a 1025.11, only tenths of a point different from their championship score. Iwasaki was the runner-up to Libbie Gordon and Small Wonder, owned by Elsa Batalden, who scored a total 1028.05.

This is the fifth time Iwasaki has made the trip to Lexington for Pony Finals from her home in California, and not her first Grand Championship; the young 13-year-old rider, who rides as a 12-year-old, impressively won both Grand Regular and Grand Green titles in 2015, with Bit of Laughter and Kingston, respectively.

Augusta Iwasaki and News Flash

Raina Swani and Newhaven’s Magnum, owned by Shadowfax Equestrian LLC, garnered a score of 1008.70 from the judges panel, the only other pair to break 1000 points, to claim the Reserve Medium Regular Pony Hunter Championship behind Iwasaki. Third on the podium was Claire Campbell and Leon, owned by Maher Family LLC, with Brynn Kuhnell and Simply Ponies LLC’s Not So Secret just a few points behind in fourth place overall. Saylor Shea and MAgical Diamond, owned by Strawberry Hill LLC, rounded out the top five placings.

The 2017 USEF Pony Finals, presented by Collecting Gaits Farm, will continue through Sunday, Aug. 13, with the Pony Medal Finals, one of the week’s highlight events, concluding a week of pony action.