Tosh and Cannon Creek Turn up the Heat in Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship With Classic Round Win

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 19, 2022—Hunt Tosh and Cannon Creek walked into the Rolex Stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, with the same goal they had last year—walk away with the Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship title. While the winner is yet to be determined until after Saturday night's Handy Round, Tosh and the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by The Wheeler Family put themselves on the right path by earning a 289 in the Classic Round on Friday, August 19.

"I wanted to go in and have a nice solid trip, kind of guaranteeing we go into tomorrow night. He went beautifully; I was so happy with him," said Tosh, of Alpharetta, Georgia.

HDF_0941CannonCreek

While navigating the course, Tosh chose to take three of the four high options, opting for the more conservative alternative at the final fence. The controlled risk paid off.

"Everyone—the Wheelers and Mandy—told me not to make a bad mistake and try to jump the high jump and have it down," Tosh recounted. "I landed on the next to last jump and just thought about it for a minute and thought I better be safe and do [the low option] instead. But you know, he went beautifully today. He’s a class ride and he went fabulous."

HDF_1974Milagro

Following close on Tosh's heels are John French and Milagro. After claiming the $229,225 3'0"/3'3" Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships with a different mount, French, of Wellington, Florida, looks to continue his successful week with Milagro, a 7-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Kent Farrington LLC, and will head into the second round with a 287.

"We have such wonderful memories of showing Rumba here the first [International Hunter Derby Championship]," said French, recalling his 2009 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship winning mount.

"The horse I have now, he has never come back here and done the finals. He started the year in the 3’3’’ one show, then moved to 3’6’’, then moved to 4’’. He’s just 7 years old. I was really proud of him today to march around like that and we will see what happens tomorrow night," he continued of Milagro.

HDF_2065RedRyder

Sitting in third are International Hunter Derby Championship veterans Hannah Isop, of Pawling, New York, and Red Ryder. The duo's fourth turn in the Championships faired well as the 18-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Tracy Freels proved that age is just a number and earned a 283.75.

"Well it was a very competitive class; everyone was really putting in great trips. It wasn’t my plan when I walked to go to [the final] high option, but he felt great and he felt like he was jumping better and better as the class went on," said Isop of her chosen track. "Like I said, there were a lot of good horses and a lot of great riders in there. I just decided to go all out."

HDF_3494CannonCreek

Judges Ron Bielefeld, Fran Dotoli, Scott Hofstetter, Rachel Kennedy, Julie Winkel and Chris Wynne saw 70 horses compete over Alan Lohman and Danny Moore's first-round course. The thirteenth Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship will culminate Saturday evening, August 20, under the Stadium lights with the exciting Handy Hunter round. The top 25 horses from the Classic Round will return to contest the shortened course as Section A and are eligible for 80 percent prize money.

"I end up parking in the same place on my motorbike; it's insane the things that I do," said Tosh of his superstitions for Saturday's competition. "Our whole group really. The Wheelers sit in the same spot; Maddie sits in the same spot. It's really out of control, but we are not going to stop yet!"

The top 20 Tier II rider-and-horse combinations—those ranked 41st and lower on the Three-Year Rider Money Won list—are designated as Section B and will also return to compete as Section B. Tier II riders that qualify for Section A will count as part of the 25 riders in Section B, meaning their horses will only jump once but can earn money in both sections. Currently leading Section B and sitting in seventh overall is Colin Syquia, of Forest Hills, New York, and Cynthia Sulzberger's Front Page.

Additionally, the $10,000 Derby Challenge, will be held on the afternoon of August 20, allowing riders that did not qualify for either Section A or Section B Handy Round to compete one more time for a substantial amount of prize money.

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 and Human Touch; and Award Sponsors Essex Classics, The Clothes Horse and Boy O Boy Bridleworks.

The USHJA also thanks Show Manager Hugh Kincannon and the entire Kentucky Horse Shows team for their assistance with the Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby 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 International Hunter Derby Championships, visit ushja.org/DerbyChampionship. For online results, visit ushja.org/competition/hunter-week-championships.

Photos: Shawn McMillen Photography

Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship Classic Hunter Round Results

Horse | Owner | Rider | Score