Lexington, Ky. – Aug. 21, 2022 – Hunter competition continued early Sunday morning in the Alltech Arena with the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. A competitive field of 53 junior, amateur and professional riders took center stage to ride for top honors in their respective categories. Due to the large number of horse-and-athlete pairs in the class, it was split into a professional section and junior/amateur section. Not to be outshined by the elite hunter competition that took place this week, Belynda Bond and aboard Norderney took the blue in the professional section, while Hannah Klinedinst with Oyster Bay topped the junior/amateur section.
Each horse-and-rider combination tried their hand at Joe Carnicom’s (USA) first round course that included a long strided bending line to a two-stride combination and four chances to jump a high option fence. The top 12 high scoring riders were then called back to contest for the win over a handy-hunter course for the opportunity to flaunt their horses ability to maintain a traditional hunter cadence while also making roll back turns and coming down to the trot for one obstacle. In the end, Bond and Klinedinst presented the most impressive hunter rounds to ultimately win the judge over and secure their blue ribbons.
Bond and Norderney, the 17-year-old Hanoverian mare owned by Gesture LLC, were unphased by the pressure, taking to the Alltech like a seasoned, accomplished hunter duo. Bond guided the mare to great success in the professional section as she made all of the handy roll back turns and demonstrated a textbook, composed effort at the trot jump. The familiar pair caught the judges eye taking all of the high options and earned high scores of 89 points and 87 points to a total of 176.5 points overall to clinch the win by just a .5 point.
Klinedinst and the 7-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Equestrian Closet LLC, Oyster Bay, proved that they were a force to be reckoned with in the junior/amateur section. The duo spent the entire winter season together at the Winter Equestrian Festival [Wellington, FL] and paved the way for their success this summer. Klinedinst has ridden the gelding to great confidence as they have moved up the ranks. Demonstrating experience beyond his years, Oyster Bay stunned the judge and earned the highest score of the day with jumping scores of 92 points and 91.5 points, to earn an overall score of 183.5 points including all four high options.
Competition at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show will conclude on Sunday evening. The Kentucky Horse Park will see horse show action beginning again on Wednesday, August 24th, with the KHJA Horse Show.
RESULTS
$5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby Junior/Amater
Place / Horse / Rider / Score
1. Oyster Bay / Hannah Linedinst / 183.5
2. Surely / Cecelia Perry / 175
3. Munich / Stella Wasserman / 174
4. Quatero / Caroline Olsen / 171
5. Breaking News / Catherine Castle / 165.75
6. River Street / Helen Voss / 164.5
7. Peroni / Gabrielle Young / 154.24
8. Constantin / Anna Koenig / 150
9. Dreamland / Lexi Selldorff / 139.5
10. Tiesto / Cecelia Perry / 137
$5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby Professional
Place / Horse / Rider / Score
1. Norderney / Belynda Bond / 176.5
2. Enzo W / Jeff Gogul / 176
3. Sinmigo Dos / Marisa Metzger / 174.5
4. Santana / Belynda Bond / 171
5. No Doubt / Jeff Gogul / 170
6. Wherewithal / Colin Syquia / 165.6
7. Incognito VDL / Ashley March / 165
8. MTM All In / Morgan Knochel / 164.5
9. Who Dat / Alexandra Ansteth / 164
10. Casino 71 / Nicholas Lopes / 155
