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Hunt Tosh and Lone Star Reign Supreme in $100,000 Chronicle of the Horse/USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals at Bluegrass Festival Horse Show

August 21, 2010

Lexington, KY --- It was an incredible night for the Final Round of the 2010 $100,000 Chronicle of the Horse/USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. After taking a tremendous lead during the opening round, it was Hunt Tosh and Lone Star leading tonight's victory gallop after repeating their amazing effort during the Handy Round. Yesterday's Round One winner, Scott Stewart and Summer Place, took home the reserve championship honors, while Elizabeth Boyd and Brunello placed third.

After a 12-month qualifying period, the top 75 horses were invited to the Kentucky Horse Park to compete for Championship honors. Yesterday the qualifying round was held in the new Indoor Ring, and today the top 25 horses were invited to show during the Second Round, although scores did not carry over. Both of tonight's courses were designed by Bobby Murphy and included many complex features such as a courtyard area and a hay bale circle fence with multiple options. The pressure was on for all the horse and rider combinations and they all chose to take every high option to earn the highest score possible.

"We had themes that we went with this year," explained Murphy. "We wanted to have the straw circle and the hedge and the courtyard and we wanted to keep it galloping; that was the goal for the whole series. We were very happy with everything."

Last year's Reserve Champions, Jennifer Alfano and SBS Farms' Jersey Boy, were the first to set the standard during the opening round, earning scores of 88-86-87 and 90 for a total of 367, with the additional bonus points added on. Their lead lasted for five rounds, until 2010 WCHR Hunter Classic winner's Elizabeth Boyd and Brunello, owned by Boyd and Janet Peterson of Camden, SC, took to the course and earned scores of 95-90-90 and 93 for a total of 384.

"For tonight's course you needed to make a plan, stick with it and hope it all goes well," said Boyd. "I thought all the bigger options weren't too risky, if you rubbed they all stayed up pretty much. The big thing is that outside you wouldn't jump the same jumps multiple times, so that take a lot of mental focus."

Three rounds later, the wonderful duo of Hunt Tosh and Lone Star, owned by Dr. Betsee Parker of Middleburg, VA, showed over the course and demonstrated why they won three Regular Working Hunter championships during Indoors and the WCHR Professional Finals. Lone Star jumped each fence with amazing form and the judges happily awarded the highest scores of the night: 98-93-93 and 94 for a gaudy 394 total, creating a very comfortable lead to eventually win the class.

Scott Stewart and Summer Place, owned by Fashion Farm of Philadelphia, PA, also entered the ring ready to win after earning the top award during yesterday's First Round. The pair laid down a beautiful trip and earned scores of 92-90-89 and 87 for a total of 375 points to enter the Handy Round in the third place position.

"My plan was to go for it from the beginning and do all of the high options cause you never know what is going to happens," noted Stewart. "My plan worked. There were lots of places to gallop and everything worked out great."

The horses with the top 12 scores advanced to tonight's difficult Handy Round, which included having the hay bale circle closed, a wide trot jump, a hand gallop fence, and different options at different jumps to make tighter turns and create the handiest round possible.

Murphy said, "The horses have really adapted to the Derby style jumps. The purpose of the straw circle was to let the riders show off. You could make it as hard or as easy as you wanted."

The youngest rider at tonight's event, 12-year-old Victoria Colvin, and Scott Stewart's World Time, had the handiest round of the evening, taking a daring route through the hay bale circle and making a very tight turn for hedge option. The duo received scores of 94+8, 93+9, 88+5, and 84+6 to earn a Handy Round total of 403 and bring their overall total to 756. They were second in the Handy Round and moved from eighth place to fourth overall.

Sitting in fourth place going into the Handy Round was Alfano and Jersey Boy of Buffalo, NY. Their course began wonderfully, but in an unexpected turn of events, Jersey Boy put on the breaks going into the hay bales, which cost them dearly, as they dropped to twelfth place at the end of the night.

Stewart and Summer Place were next in the ring and Colvin's trainer mimicked the same route to lay everything on the line with even greater success, earning scores of 92+9, 90r+9, 89+8, and 87+7 for 406 points and 781 total, eventually earning the Reserve Championship.

After the Handy Course Stewart commented, "I was worried about the trot jump. It was almost like a liverpool with the grass underneath. Remembering the course was the hardest part, especially the Handy course, it was almost like a Medal Final."

Boyd and Brunello were slightly more conservative during the handy round as they did not want to make any mistakes and drop too far in the rankings. Their sold effort was awarded scores of 89+6, 91+6, 87+4, and 86+6 for 391 points and an overall score of 775, taking the third place honors.

When Tosh entered the ring with Lone Star they had all the pressure in the world to perform. Tosh, knowing that he still had a comfortable lead after earning excellent scores during the first round, stayed conservative with his track, but Lone Star jumped every fence brilliantly. The judges awarded the duo scores of 90+8, 92+7, 85+6, and 85+7 for 396 points and whopping final total of 790 points. The remarkable effort earned them the Championship title and the opportunity to lead the victory gallop.

"When you are on top coming into the final round you try to not be too risky and make a mistake, but you still need to give it you all," explained Tosh after his victory. "I had enough of a lead and instead of making a mistake I stayed conservative. The handy was difficult because everything came up very fast. In an outdoor ring there is more room to gallop and get organized, but this ring still it rode nicely."

Tosh added, "Lone Star is an amazing horse for me, the horse of a lifetime. Every time you call for him to do his best, he steps up and does it. I was so excited when I saw the scores, especially with this horse, he has been so great and it's so special for him to win this event. He has done so well at Indoors and here at the Derby. Now we can hopefully repeat our success at Indoors."

Tonight marked the end of the 2009/2010 USHJA International Hunter Derby Series, but soon the 2010/2011 Series will get underway, and a new group of horses will vie for the top honors at each event and the opportunity to compete at next year's Finals.

Equestrian Life provided a live, free webcast of this weekend's Finals. If you missed it any of the event you can view all of the rounds in their entirety by visiting www.equestrianlife.com/derby.

The Bluegrass Festival Horse Show will come to a close tomorrow, marking the end of the month-long Kentucky Summer Horse Show Series. The final event will be the $30,000 Bluegrass Festival Grand Prix, which will be held in the Indoor Arena beginning at 2p.m.

For more information about the Kentucky Summer Horse Shows please visit www.KentuckyHorseShows.com.

RESULTS:

$100,000 CHRONICLE OF THE HORSE/USHJA INTERNATIONAL HUNTER DERBY

1 47 LONESTAR HUNT TOSH DR. BETSEE PARKER 394.000 396.000 790.000

2 43 SUMMER PLACE SCOTT STEWART FASHION FARM 375.000 406.000 781.000

3 49 BRUNELLO ELIZABETH BOYD JANET PETERSON AND 384.000 391.000 775.000

4 42 WORLD TIME VICTORIA COLVIN SCOTT STEWART 353.000 403.000 756.000

5 22 LISTEN KELLEY FARMER JANE GASTON 357.750 380.000 737.750

6 28 SANDER MAGGIE JAYNE PONY LANE FARM 348.500 388.000 736.500

7 29 FRANCESCA MAGGIE JAYNE PONY LANE FARM 356.500 379.000 735.500

8 41 DECLARATION SCOTT STEWART FASHION FARM 350.000 372.000 722.000

9 26 PERIDOT TAMMY PROVOST STEPHEN MARTINES 364.000 344.000 708.000

10 70 TELL ALL PETER PLETCHER DR. & MRS. JOHN BAKER 348.750 335.000 683.750

11 19 TAKEN KELLEY FARMER NANCY AMLING 359.000 208.000 567.000

12 38 JERSEY BOY JENNIFER ALFANO SBS FARMS INC 367.000 191.000 558.000

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