The wind came in full force Saturday afternoon, but not before Jamie Sailor grabbed a win in the $7,500 Interactive Mortgage 10 & Under Futurity Series. Aboard Atlantic DVZ, owned by Teton Farms LLC, Sailor betsted 15 jump-off competitors for the top spot.
“It was definitely your day, even with the wind and the chaos, but I’m super happy with it,” Sailor reflected. “I spent last year really putting the miles in and trying to get him a lot of experience out in the show ring. He’s still only 10. I’ve done some bigger classes with him but this week I wanted to take it a bit easy with him. Next week I think he’ll jump up again, so this week I was just sticking to the 1.35m.”
Sailor’s time of 32.334 seconds was enough to seal the deal, but Kaitlin Campbell was hot on her tail with Conova, owned by Sweet Oak Farm, clocking in at 32. 733 seconds for second place. In third was Guy Thomas with WT Leapalong, owned by Willow Tree Farm, Inc.
Sailor acquired the ride from a student who went off to college, so she’s enjoying every step as she builds the horse for the higher levels.
“He’s amazing so I’m super excited for him,” she reflected. “I’m thankful to have him and today he’s just shined. He is competitive, and then the wind was just another whole factor. He’s generally a very careful horse butI actually think he jumped even better. It’s his time to shine.”
Earlier this season, as week one of Desert Circuit got underway, Sailor had the opportunity to ride with expert clinicians in the CTAcademy. She chose Atlantic DVZ as her ride for the three-day clinic. Head clinician and Italian show jumper Lorenzo De Luca had some very interesting words of advice for the horse, and it’s helped her get to know the horse even better and give him the ride he needs every day.
“For me on the left lead, I lose him a little bit and that’s what I was telling Lorenzo De Luca. I always feel like I need to push out of the turn. He said [with Atlance] you need to really collect him and get them on his hind legs because the lengthen comes out of collection. So I’ve been really working on getting him back on his hind end and then really engaging rather than just coming out of the turn on an open canter, and I think that’s actually really helped me a lot.”
In the course set for the day, this particular tip came into play and Sailor rode it the way De Luca advised, and it played out just as she wanted.
“I just feel like he wants to just sit with me a little instead of helping me through the left lead and that that clinic has really helped me,” she continued. “Today there was the left lead to the six [strides] to the two-stride. I saw it from the corner and I said, ‘I’m gonna stay behind you and really think about your hind legs,’ and he was right there with me.”
Overall Sailor enjoyed every minute of the clinic, which covered far more than just riding. “The whole design of that clinic was really fun,” she said. “Atlantic actually learned a lot from that clinic as well, including a lot of lateral movements, which I do a lot of, like counter canter with the inside bend, and that was fun to learn.”
Calista Yun Captures $7,500 Champion Shavings 1.40m NAJC Trial Classic
Calista Yun had her work cut out for her in the $7,500 Champion Shavings 1.40m NAJC Trial, with a stacked jump-off of top young competitors. Up against fellow young talent and friends of hers, she took the top spot with Panama FZ, a relatively new mount, as the jump-off came to a close, bringing her that much closer to a potential trip to the FEI North American Youth Championships.
“I actually just got her in November from Ilan Ferder, and right when she got here we started moving up,” Yun explained. “I didn’t have that much time to try horses because we are getting prepped for NAYC. We got her to move up to this and I was a little rickety, like most people are in the beginning, but we just kept doing different venues. I did one show here during Holiday, and then we went to Vegas and she ended up third place there in the 1.35m. She’s been perfect ever since we’ve just gotten better and better.”
This win was for sure a highlight, but with the goals on the horizon, Yun is surely headed to much bigger highlights.
“NAYC is my top priority and probably Prix de States after that,” she said of what is next as she keeps climbing. “But honestly, I’m just going with whatever I see as best or I’m interested in, plus also what my friends are doing and so the plan is just go with the flow, basically.”
Yun has never been to NAYC in the past, and this year, she’d be jumping bigger since she just recently turned 17, putting her into the Junior category at the prestigious event.
“I’ve never been but I attempted to go last year, and I actually just was out of the cut-off on my other horse, so this is our second attempt,” Yun explained. “I’m super excited. I’m a little overwhelmed because I’m not the best under pressure like that, but I think that now riding her makes me so much more confident and like everything will be smoother.”
Second place in the class went to Amanda Paul who piloted Captain Crunch, while Djuna Lauder took third aboard New Star VD Berghoeve, owned by Roaring Fork Farms LLC.
The young riders here this week for NAYC Trials are enjoying being in a league of their own, and the event is meant to prepare them for how NAYC will feel, which Yun specifically appreciates.
“It’s really nice because it prepares you a lot from what my barn mates have said; some of them have been before so they tell me that this is very good practice,” Yun said. “I didn’t necessarily want to do the Trials because I didn’t want to have too much stress, but after today it’s making everything feel so much calmer.”
The NAYC Trials conclude Sunday with the $20,000 Brown Advisory NAYC Trial Classic.
Irene Neuwirth Takes Home Double Amateur-Owner Classic Wins
Irene Neuwirth had a stellar day in the Amateur-Owner Hunters on Saturday, winning two Amateur-Owner Hunter Classics, plus taking two championships and a reserve championship across the two height levels. But beyond the ribbons, Neuwirth is excited to be along for the ride in developing some stellar younger mounts with the help of her Bridgeport Farms team.
To start the day, Neuwirth took the win in the R.J. Classics 3’3” Amateur-Owner Hunter Classic aboard Scout’s Honor. Scores of 88 and 86 put them in the winner’s circle, also taking the championship for the 3’3” Amateur-Owner division.
“Scout’s Honor is brand new for me,” she said of the Holsteiner gelding by Diarado. “I got him right before the circuit, and he shows as a 6-year-old but he’s really still 5. He’s really cool. He has a great brain and he’s been really fun to bring along. I’m so honored that he’s in the 3’3” division; it’s such a great group of women we compete against. I am having a ball.”
Neuwirth wasn’t certain Scout’s Honor would be the ride for her, but the gelding quickly proved her wrong.
“He’s very little,” she remarked of the horse’s stature. “I thought maybe he’d have too short of a stride but it’s quickly opened up. He didn’t really know at the beginning how to look down the liens and carry me through, so it took us a minute, but now he fits in so nicely. I just love to ride a horse that’s really safe, has a good brain, is willing, and happy to do his job, which he really is.”
Carrying the success through to the next division, Neuwirth took top honors with Coconut Grove in the Marshall & Sterling 3’6” Amateur-Owner Hunter Classic with matching scores of 86 in the two rounds.
Coconut Grove also took the reserve championship in the 3’6” Amateur-Owner Hunter division, while Neuwirth’s second mount, a 7-year-old named Guess Again, took the championship. Coconut Grove and Guess Who traded between first and second places in every class in the division.
“I got him last year and he just moved up to the 3’6”,” Neuwirth shared of Coconut Grove, an 11-year-old Westphalian gelding. “I always think my horse Guess Who is going to cream all of them; he just jumps so outrageously that if we put in a good round he’s hard to beat. But now, Coconut Grove seems to be giving him a run for his money all the time, which is fun.”
If Neuwirth could summarize Desert Circuit in a word, it would certainly be “fun”. The results are great, but even better are the partnerships she’s building and the confidence she’s gaining while working with young horses.
“I’m having so much fun. I’m very grateful,” she shared. “I have an amazing support system. John [Bragg] is amazing; we’re friends and he’s been an incredible trainer to work with. He’s helping find these really wonderful young horses and has faith in my ability. It’s a new challenge to bring these young ones along. I couldn’t do it without Mitch and John and the whole team. It’s been fun to challenge myself in a new way and do well with them. These guys have something to prove, so it’s exciting that they’re able to be competitive.”
Hunters resume Sunday with a few added divisions, with Saturday not reaching completion due to wind. To see the updated schedule, please visit deserthorsepark.com/show-schedule/.