French and Stewart Secure Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championship Wins

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 18, 2022—Over 180 horse-and-rider combinations contested the 2022 Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships, vying for over $314,000 in prize money. In the end, only two walked away with the champion tricolors on Thursday, August 18, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

After three days of competition, Wyatt, owned by Susan Moriconi and ridden by John French, earned the 3'0"/3'3" Championship honors. Two rounds of competition found Nottingham, owned by Dr. Betsee Parker and ridden by Scott Stewart, on top of the leaderboard and taking the 3'6"/3'9" Championship honors.

GRN_6752Wyatt

$229,225 3'0"/3'3" Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships

Beginning with 133 horse-and-rider combinations, after two rounds over Bobby Murphy-designed courses, the 30 horses with the highest cumulative scores advanced to the Championship Round. Starting with a clean slate to vie for a piece of the round's $84,394 purse, Wyatt and French, of Wellington, Florida, strode into their third and final round to polish off a great week competing at the 3'3" height, having finished tenth in Round 1 and fourth in Round 2. The 7-year-old warmblood gelding's efforts earned a leaderboard-topping score of 265 under judges Robert Bielefeld, Fran Dotoli, Scott Hofstetter, Rachel Kennedy, Julie Winkel and Chris Wynne—5 points above the next closest competitor.

"It’s a great class and we have 130-some horses—young horses that everybody is aspiring to be their next great superstar. It's really nice to see as many horses as we are seeing here at the show and the quality of the horses," said French of the competition. "I knew [Wyatt] had it in him, so today I just took him out in the field and hacked him around. I didn’t want him to be too bored from having to go three days in a row. I think it paid off."

With over $3,700 already in the duo's pockets from the first two rounds, they added an additional $21,098.50 for their win along with a range of prizes from USHJA sponsors. As champion, French was presented with the Bye for Now Perpetual Trophy donated in honor of Joey Darby.

"It’s nice to see a lot of the money go to the Hunters. You see a lot going to the Jumpers and all of their Grands Prix—thousands of dollars. To see it put into the Hunters really helps to get owners interested and buying young horses and bringing them along," said French. "It costs a lot of money nowadays to show horses. To have this class makes people want to buy them and bring them along, whereas if they didn’t have that, by the time they got to the bigger classes, they would have had so much money in them. It encourages owners to be a part of it."

GRN_6934Twain GRN_1072Endeavor

Last year's champions Twain, owned by Ceil Wheeler, and Hunt Tosh, of Alpharetta, Georgia, tied for second with Belhaven Stables LLC's Endeavor, ridden by Tim Goguen, of Lexington, Kentucky. Both pairs earned a score of 260 from the three panels of judges, competing at the 3'3" and 3' heights, respectively.

"[Twain] was great all three days. I was very happy with him. When I came back today, like John said, it’s a great group of horses. It’s a great class obviously and gets the young horses a chance to win this kind of money. To come here two years in a row and do that is awesome. It’s great; all the horses were fabulous," said Tosh.

Each took home $11,794.06 in prize money, and as the second-highest placing Tier II rider after Rounds 1 and 2, Goguen earned an additional $8,439.40.

"I thought my horse got better each class," said Goguen. "I wasn’t sure if he had enough left in the tank today, but he went beautifully. I couldn’t be happier with him."

GRN_6483Nottingham

$87,245 3'6"/3'9" Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships

Kicking off Thursday's competition, Round 1 of the 3'6"/3'9" Championship narrowed a field of 55 down to the top 30, with the highest scores after the first round advancing to the Championship Round on a clean slate. Coming in second after earning the red ribbon and $6,176.95 in the first round, Nottingham and Stewart shot to the top of the final round's rankings when they posted a score of 275 early on at the 3'9" height. The 10-year-old Oldenburg and Stewart earned $8,724.50, a trophy donated by Ken and Ceil Wheeler, and a variety of prizes from USHJA sponsors for their win.

"Nottingham is a really great horse. He has a big stride and is really brave, and he never gets quick, so you can turn him up and open him up and he is really adjustable. He is the perfect horse for that. The course really suited him," said Stewart of his winning mount. "I was lucky enough that Jimmy went before me and had a really good round, so I really thought I really had to go all out, which I did and [Nottingham] turned out under pressure. I think if I hadn’t seen him go before me, I probably would have been a little more conservative."

GRN_6420Laskano

Jimmy Torano, of Wellington, Florida, rode Isalou, Inc.'s Laskano to second with a 269.50 at 3'9". The pair earned $6,176.95 on top of Torano's $5,234.70 as the leading Tier II rider from Round 1. The pair will return to the ring tomorrow to compete in the Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships.

"I can trust the horse. He’s not spooky at all; he doesn't need to see the jumps. He has won six derbies this year, so I am hoping he keeps going the way he has been," said Torano.

"I think the programs that they have nowadays between this program and the Derby is phenomenal. For the last 10 years or so people have been talking about getting a Derby horse and 'oh we got to get to the Green [Hunter] Incentive," Torano continued. "So you know it's become a real big thing for the Hunters. I think the Hunters needed it. The Jumpers have the Grands Prix at the international level and this is the Grand Prix for the Hunters."

Rounding out the top three was Stewart, this time with Casanova Royal, owned by Stephanie Danhakl. Competing at 3'6", a 263.25 secured them third and $3,577.05 in prize money.

GRN_7162Wyatt GRN_7698Nottingham

Both Championships offered recognition and more than $50,000 in additional prize money through the Green Hunter Rider Ranking System, which categorizes riders into two tiers based upon their prior earnings within the program. Tier I riders are those who are ranked 1-30 in money won in the program over the past three years, and all other riders are considered Tier II. Tier II prize money was based on the cumulative scores from Rounds 1 and 2 for 3'0"/3'3" competitors and Round 1 scores for 3'6"/3'9" competitors.

Between rounds, the Rider Style Award was presented to Dorothy Douglas, of Ocala, Florida, and Nick Haness, of Temecula, California, for the 3'0"/3'3" and 3'6"/3'9" Championships, respectively. The award recognizes the rider who best displays the American style of riding in the ring and sportsmanship outside of the competition arena.

In the 3'0"/3'3" Championship, Hannah Klinedinst earned the High Score Amateur Owner honor with Oyster Bay's total score of 428. Augusta Iwasaki was awarded both High Score Junior awards after earning a 459.50 total with Elizabeth Reilly's Small Moments at the 3'0"/3'3" height and scoring a 135 with Sunset View Farms LLC's Insightful at the 3'6"/3'9" height.

Bonus awards were also presented for both the 3'0"/3'3" and 3'6"/3'9" Championships. The $5,000 High Score American-Bred Award in remembrance of Candie Owens, presented by Oakwell Farms and DS Holdings, LLC, went to Mr. Special, owned by MMK Equestrian LLC and ridden by Abbygale Funk, and Mr. Manhattan, owned by Martin Schlaeppi and ridden by Daniel Geitner. The High-Score 4- and 5-Year-Old Award went to MF Starboy owned and ridden by Michael Britt-Leon. The $2,000 Texas Super Series Bonus Award, presented by Colleen McQuay and Patrick Rodes, went to She’s All That owned by Linda Yarborough and ridden by Jef Lauwers. The High Score Mare Award went to Circa, owned by Glade Run Farm LLC and ridden by Nick Haness, and Bettina, owned by Mary Caroline Nolan and ridden by Elizabeth Boyd.

The USHJA thanks the sponsors who helped to make these championships possible including Title Sponsor Platinum Performance; Official Sponsors CWD, Exhibitor's, Nutrena, Parlanti International and Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital and Pharmacy. Thanks also go to Official Broadcast Provider ClipMyHorse.TV and Livestream Presenting Sponsor Windsor Stables with Michael Britt-Leon and Kelly Sims; Supporting Sponsors RingSide Pro, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and Human Touch; Award Sponsors Essex Classics, The Clothes Horse and Boy O Boy Bridleworks; and Bonus Award Donors Oakwell Farms, DS Holdings, LLC, Colleen McQuay and Patrick Rodes.

The USHJA also thanks Show Manager Hugh Kincannon and the entire Kentucky Horse Shows team for their assistance with the Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships.

Wall-to-wall live streaming coverage presented by Windsor Stables is available at no additional cost to members at ushja.org and ClipMyHorse.TV. Additional coverage will be available in the upcoming issue of In Stride.

For more information about the Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships, visit ushja.org/GreenChampionship. For online results, visit ushja.org/competition/hunter-week-championships.

Photos: Shawn McMillen Photography

3'0"/3'3" Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships Results

Horse | Owner | Rider | Score

3'6"/3'9" Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships Results

Horse | Owner | Rider | Score