Harrisburg, Pa. – October 15, 2024 – For an impressive third consecutive year, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show Hunt Night Championship and the Ralph A. Alfano Memorial Perpetual Trophy went home with the Keswick Hunt Club.
Represented by seven riders on Monday night, October 14, at the PA Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA, the central Virginia-based hunt club notched the most points across the classes offered during Hunt Night, presented by Kinsley Construction and the Quaker City Foundation.
“In July, the other clubs started calling us and saying, ‘We’re going to beat you this year!’” said Sandy Rives of the Keswick Hunt Club. “We said that we could put together almost the same team that we did last year and win, and we did! This year, I think we got 47 out of the 50 available points. We take our hunt teams seriously. If you go back over the past 50 years, my father was a big hunt team person. Mr. Wheeler was a big hunt team person. So, we’re really happy to do this.”
In addition to Rives, the riders representing the Keswick Hunt Club included Joel and Nicolette Merle Smith, Matt Sevier, Claire Pacelli, Carly Mayer and Jill Wilson Anderson.
On their way to the championship honor, the Keswick Hunt Club team notched numerous other accolades, frequently topping the 11 total hunts competing throughout the evening.
Among those accolades was the Hunt Night Leading Lady Rider Award, for which Pacelli was presented with the “Polly” Gingrich Caswell Perpetual Trophy. On her way to the Leading Lady title, Pacelli piloted Something Special to wins in both the Field Hunters 35 & Under and the Ladies Hunter Under Saddle.
In the Field Hunters 36 & Over, it was Wilson Anderson who took home the top honor for the Keswick Hunt Club, topping the 33-entry class and earning the Chairman’s Perpetual Trophy aboard Ostentatious GSF. Also earning a win for the Keswick team was Rives who rode Just In Time to victory in the Gentlemen’s Hunter Under Saddle.
Breaking through Keswick’s streak of wins were the riders of River Hill Foxhounds, as the River Hill Foxhounds Team 1 rode to victory, and the Potomac Hunt Challenge Trophy, in the Hunt Teams competition. As part of their winning presentation, each rider received a bucket full of high-quality grooming products. from Shapley’s.
With sidesaddle classes also held as part of Hunt Night, the 2024 Ladies Side Saddle Championship went to Amy Magee and Last Call. For full results from Hunt Night, click here.
