Peter Wylde and Candor 15 (Kendall Bierer/Phelps Media Group)
Prior to posing with the coveted rosette, Wylde and Candor 15 had to best an extremely competitive field of 28 horse and rider combinations over two rounds of competition.
Following the first, classic hunter round of competition, the top 12 horse and rider combinations returned in reverse order of their rankings for the second round of competition over the Rob Carey (CAN) designed course.
Wylde and Candor 15 made the biggest jump from the first round to the second round. Originally tied for the fourth place with Kelley Farmer and one of her multiple mounts, So to Speak. They earned 180 points from the judges for the first round, but came back to dominate in the handy. Using Candor's scope and handiness, Wylde smoked the competition to earn 7 handy points from Panel A and 6 handy points from Panel B. Combined with four points added to the base scores of 95 and 91 for taking all high options, Wylde and Candor ended the day with the highest handy score of 207.
Candor 15 is a little different from other competitors. The grey gelding is a veteran of the Adult Jumper division, but in the fall of 2014, owner Dana Tourville asked if Wylde believed that Candor could do the hunters. Without hesitation, Wylde suggested taking a shot with the brave horse, winning two classes during their first show in the hunter ring at Saugerties and then kicking off the season with good ribbons in the High Performance Hunters and the sixth place finish for their efforts during the first of the 2015 $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby of The Ridge at Wellington Turf Tour.
"He has done really well," Wylde smiled. "Basically, the plan was derbies for him. He is a superstar derby horse in my opinion, especially when you have high options. He turns beautifully; he is really handy and has a huge stride. Now, he has figured out what it means to be a hunter. He used to buck and play a little bit after the jumps because he was basically always going in jump offs and he was kind of foolish. Now he loves it. It's funny, now it's like he looks forward to going to the ring."
It was his scope and handiness that allowed Wylde to leave no stone unturned on the derby field.
"We were hoping to peak for these two weeks. We did the earlier derby here in February, and it was a little early. We had only done one show with the high performance and he was sixth in that derby but he was still a little green to the hunter world, was brave and playful. He jumped the best he has jumped today. The higher jumps are the best for him."
The handy course did not blatantly offer options for the riders. Carey designed the track so that the rider had to decide how tight they wanted to make the turns. For Wylde, it was the perfect handy course. Candor was able to land from a fence, make a tight turn and jump up to the big vertical that incurred several rubs, and knocked the first round's third place horse and rider combination, Farmer and Joyful, out of their spot with a rail falling to the floor.
Farmer rode six entries in the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, with five of her mounts finishing in the top 12. Farmer ended the day with the second place overall aboard Symbolic, a new mount for the professional hunter rider. The Ridge Derby Days were his first hunter debut, adding a notch to his belt and already making a name only two weeks into competition with Farmer. They ended the competition with a score of 384 points, only three points behind Wylde and Candor 15.
Hannah Isop and Red Ryder, owned by Tracy Freels, rode to the third place finish with the overall score of 383.5, while Farmer picked up the fourth and fifth place finishes with Mindful and So To Speak, respectively, Rounding out the top six was Jennifer Bauersachs and For Love, owned by Spring Hill Farm, Inc.
Wylde now has his sights set on the derby at the final week of the Winter Equestrian Festival, as well as the Kentucky and Devon derby classes. He hopes to qualify for the 2015 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship in Lexington, KY, this summer.
"I must say that I seem to have inherited some really fancy hunters this circuit. I look forward to doing both-the jumper division, as I have always done, and the hunters. It is a discipline I really enjoy and appreciate. There are some really nice derbies coming up that we would like to do. It is a really great program."
He plans on returning to The Ridge at Wellington's Hunter Derby Days next year, "The footing was excellent. It is just soft enough, without being too soft. The footing is really natural and really good. I love the shape of the ring, it's different and it's interesting. It isn't the same thing over and over again, it is great for the competition, and Candor really shined out there today."
Winn Alden and Marshall (Shannon Bower/Phelps Media Group)
In the first round, Taylor St. Jacques was the third rider in the ring, riding Alejandro. Starting the day off with a bang, she posted an impressive score, taking all the high options to wind up with a score of 178. This score would hold up throughout the morning, finishing at the top of the first round scores. Unfortunately, an overenthusiastic Alejandro played a bit too hard landing off of one of the oxers in the handy round, resulting in the elimination of the top placed team.
Alden also took all of the high options in the first round to finish within striking distance of the lead with a score of 174. Penny Lombardo rode Too Much Fun over all the high options to come back just one point behind at 173.
The handy round saw competition heat up as the pairs returned to compete in reverse order. Every pair took all four high options, adding eight to their base scores.
Alden left little to chance, laying down another impressive trip to add 181 to her original score, totaling out at 355. Marshall floated around the ring, as the epitome of a top class hunter at the top of his game. Alden came to The Ridge today with the intention of making it a low-key day of competition.
"I showed him one day during circuit and that's it. He has just been hanging out and came here to do it for the fun of it. He is just a perfect horse."
She added, "We wanted to come over and just have fun since we haven't really shown. One of my adults was also in it, so I thought it would be fun for her to do. We want to get him fit so he can do the international derby."
Alden's student, Brook Cole, would finish the day in 11th, riding her own Poetic Justis. Alden was very proud of Cole's performance today in the derby. "I was super proud of her. Her first trip was great. She was champion in the adults last week at WEF, but she was a little nervous today. She had a great first round, and then she had a little miss in the handy, but I was very proud of her."
Cole was very supportive of The Ridge Hunter Days. "It was lovely! The course rode really smooth while still being challenging. The farm is gorgeous. It's really nice to be able to walk straight over from WEF over here and feel the same level of competition and expertise."
Emma Kurtz and Eloquence moved up, coming back fourth from the first round. The pair rode a very handy second round, finishing with a 178 to end at 350 to bring home the red ribbon.
Tiffany Morrissey and Bellucci added an additional 177 to their original 169 to total at 346, good enough for third. Denice De Risio-Perry rode the gorgeous dappled bay gelding Crescendo to a fourth place finish. Revelstoke and Hannah Isop finished in fifth overall. Penny Lombardo would round out the top six on Missy Yoder's Too Much Fun.
2015 Hunter Derby Days - Results
201 - USHJA International Hunter Derby
Place Entry Horse Rider Owners
1 1145 Candor 15 Peter Wylde Dana Tourville
2 1164 Symbolic Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel,LLC
3 1184 Red Ryder Hannah L. Isop Tracy Freels
4 1167 Mindful Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
5 1166 So To Speak Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
6 1149 For Love Jennifer Bauersachs Spring Hill Farm, Inc
7 1183 Keep It Simple Hannah L. Isop Tracy Freels
8 1148 Lucretia Taylor A. Adams Steeple Chase Farm, Inc
9 1153 Tip Top Du Moulin Jimmy Torano Ellen Holtgers
10 1168 Joyful Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
11 1165 In Private Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke Bibby Hill
12 1122 Columbus Jimmy Torano Kathryn Haefner LLC
202 - USHJA International Hunter Derby - 1st Round
Place Entry Horse Rider Owners
1 1164 Symbolic Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
2 1168 Joyful Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
3 1184 Red Ryder Hannah L. Isop Tracy Freels
4 1166 So To Speak Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
5 1145 Candor 15 Peter Wylde Dana Tourville
6 1165 In Private Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke Bibby Hill
7 1167 Mindful Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
8 1149 For Love Jennifer Bauersachs Spring Hill Farm, Inc
9 1122 Columbus Jimmy Torano Kathryn Haefner LLC
10 1153 Tip Top Du Moulin Jimmy Torano Ellen Holtgers
11 1183 Keep It Simple Hannah L. Isop Tracy Freels
12 1148 Lucretia Taylor A. Adams Steeple Chase Farm, Inc
203 - USHJA International Hunter Derby - 2nd Round
Place Entry Horse Rider Owners
1 1145 Candor 15 Peter Wylde Dana Tourville
2 1184 Red Ryder Hannah L. Isop Tracy Freels
3 1167 Mindful Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
4 1164 Symbolic Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
5 1183 Keep It Simple Hannah L. Isop Tracy Freels
6 1148 Lucretia Taylor A. Adams Steeple Chase Farm, Inc
7 1166 So To Speak Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
8 1149 For Love Jennifer Bauersachs Spring Hill Farm, Inc
9 1153 Tip Top Du Moulin Jimmy Torano Ellen Holtgers
10 1122 Columbus Jimmy Torano Kathryn Haefner LLC
11 1165 In Private Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke Bibby Hill
12 1168 Joyful Kelley Farmer Larry Glefke D.L. Glefke & Kensel, LLC
101 - USHJA National Hunter Derby
Place Entry Horse Rider Owners
1 1178 Marshall Winn Alden Southern Arches, LLC
2 1175 Eloquence Emma Kurtz Taylor Willever
3 1177 Bellucci Tiffany Morrissey Eastwind Farms, LLC
4 1158 Crescendo Denice De Risio-Perry Elizabeth Wiley
5 1181 Revelstoke Hannah L. Isop Christine Watkins
6 1141 Too Much Fun Penny Lombardo Missy Yoder
7 1185 Crown Royal Evan Coluccio Chad Keenum Emc International
8 1180 Business Casual Krista Goosens High Meadow Partners LLC
9 1123 Bentley Kahryn Haefner Kathryn Haefner LLC
10 1189 Aaron Olivia Notman Nolan Wein
11 1179 Poetic Justis Brooke Cole Brooke Cole
12 1156 Alejandro Taylor St Jacques Daylily Farm LLC