Washington, D.C. - The $15,000 Ambassador’s Cup High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic, sponsored by Ellen and Daniel Crown, saw a win for Victoria Colvin (17) and Karen Long Dwight’s Chanel B 2 on Saturday afternoon at WIHS. Colvin, of Loxahatchee, FL, rode the nine-year-old Mecklenburg mare (Cellestial x C-Indoctro) to victory to earn The Ambassador’s Cup Perpetual Trophy donated by Ambassador and Mrs. Marion H. Smoak.
The Ambassador’s Cup saw 21 entries with six to jump-off and only two double clear rounds. First to go over the short course, Colvin and Chanel B 2 set the pace at 33.96 seconds that would hold up for the win. Two riders were faster, but incurred faults along the way. Chloe Reid was the only other competitor to go clear in the jump-off with Chloe D Reid LLC’s Windbreaker and finished second in 34.52 seconds. Lauren Fischer and Offenbach du Granit had the fastest four fault round in 33.02 seconds to earn the third place prize.
After Saturday’s win and a second place finish in Friday’s jump-off class, Colvin and Chanel B 2 were also awarded the High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper championship, sponsored by Ellen and Daniel Crown. They were presented the Greenberg Challenge Trophy donated by Mr. and Mrs. Hermen Greenberg. Colvin, who trains in the equitation and jumpers with Andre Dignelli, began riding the mare this winter.
“She is one of my new jumper rides. We got her at the end of WEF (Winter Equestrian Festival) and she is a different ride,” Colvin described. “She is a woman, so she is a little opinionated. She likes to have her hand held a little bit, so in the jump-off we try not to go too fast because she gets nervous. In the indoor she is a little funny with the crowd. On Barn Night she was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there are a lot of people.’ I thought today she might be a little starstruck too because of all the people, but she went amazing.”
Colvin went first in the jump-off and had to set the challenge for the other competitors, but wanted to keep her mare’s nerves in mind and give her mount a positive round. “I got the unlucky draw of first,” Colvin remarked. “I wanted to go fast enough, but I wanted to have a clean round because I watched the low juniors and they didn’t have a clean round until the middle. I thought a little slow and steady would win, but not too slow. That is what I tried. I don’t really like going first, but it worked out.”
Karen Long Dwight purchased Chanel B 2 for Colvin to ride at the end of the Florida circuit this winter. The mare had been with German rider Andre Thieme showing at the 1.45m level, and Colvin knew the mare had experience indoors with him.
“I am pretty sure Andre showed her a lot in Germany indoors, but I had never shown her in the indoor and this was one to start it off with, with the schooling ring this size,” Colvin noted. “She is a little afraid of traffic, so I wasn’t sure how she was going to handle that, but she was amazing and she didn’t care at all.”
Colvin had two very different rides in the class with Chanel B 2 and her other mount, Don Juan, who was unfortunately eliminated. “I ride her like a hunter,” she detailed. “Don Juan is the total opposite. You just sort of let go with her. You have to hold her at the base to keep her comfort because she gets a little like, ‘Where am I going?,’ but she likes to put her head out and just stroke along.”
Hunter Holloway and Hays Investment Corp.’s I Love Lucy were the High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper reserve champions after winning the first two classes of the division. Holloway was also presented with the 2014 SHALANNO Style of Riding Award. The award is presented each year to the Junior Jumper rider who best exemplifies the American style of equitation and the respectful, dignified manner of a true sportsman.
Lucas Porter and Psychee d’Amour (Shawn McMillen Photography)
“This has been a really good show in the Lows for me and I knew going into today that if I won, I would be champion,” said Porter who approached the course from the final position in the order. “Last is the best position, but I feel the pressure to win when I go last. My focus was to stay calm in both rounds, get in a half seat and let her do her thing.”
Porter finished clear in 37.211 seconds. The Classic blue guaranteed them Champion honors and earned Porter the Foxbrook Perpetual Trophy donated by Joy Slater in honor of Space Citation. Saturday’s win combined with a first and seventh-place ribbon gave them a total of 25 points. For the Classic win, he was presented the Swan Lake Perpetual Trophy, donated by Beagle Brook Farm, in honor of the 1992 winner Swan Lake ridden by Jennifer F. Miller.
Porter was one of nine to return over the short course from an original field of 23 in the Classic. The first double clear came five trips into the jump-off when Yasmin Rizvi and Heritage Farm’s Vivell-C crossed the timers fault-free in 38.959 seconds. One of only two to best the jump-off, Rizvi finished second, while Sima Morgello and Zopala, owned by Double S Farm, were the fastest of the four-fault rounds to take third. Morgello also earned Reserve Champion with 12 points.
A sizable oxer set against the rail of the Verizon Center ring was the first fence of the jump-off and saw more than half the field bring down the front rail. Porter was one of a few to rise to the occasion. “I held her to the first rail but gave her enough leg to get over the back rail, and it showed up right out of the turn,” he said. “The line set up nicely and the rest of the course was smooth. She [Psychee d'Amour] is super fast, careful and a winner. She loves to win just as much as I do, so we’re a perfect match.”
Psychee d’Amour, an 11-year old Selle Francais mare, returned to work this spring after a ligament injury at Kentucky in 2012. However, two years of careful rehab have returned the mare to top form, according to Porter. “She’s the same horse she was before the injury. She’s spicy, but it’s all part of her winning personality,” he said. “She wants to be fast, clean and win. I was really disappointed when she was injured, so my focus now is keeping her sound.”
To that end, Psychee d’Amour will rest between WIHS and the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, while Porter’s other mounts head to The National Horse Show in Kentucky. This winter, Porter will focus her on the Medium Jumpers.
While showing full time, 17-year old Porter is a junior in high school and attends classes through Stanford University Online High School. Coupled with success in the show ring, he is also making plans for his future. Considering coursework in Engineering and Architecture, he has his sights set on attending Stanford University, or following in the footsteps of his older brother to Vanderbilt. “They are my top two, but they are also really hard to get into, so I just have to study hard,” he concluded.
Porter hails from Texas, but now calls Wellington home under the direction of his parents, trainers John Roche and Chelsea Sundius, as well as groom Oscar Marin.