Nick Haness and Crowd Pleaser Deliver A Show-stopping Performance in the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby
Photo © ESI Photography
For Immediate Release:
THERMAL, Calif. – December 18, 2020 – Nick Haness (Temecula, CA) and West Coast Equine Partners, LLC’s Crowd Pleaser delivered a show-stopping performance in Friday’s $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, sponsored by Perfect Products. The pair navigated Michael Roy Curtis’ courses to earn scores of 87 and 92, landing them the top spot. Claire Archer (Atherton, CA) and her own Rimpoche, earned the reserve placing for their scores of 83 and 77, while Rachel Rosenblum (San Mateo, CA) and her own Louis Le Bon received scores of 78 and 70 to finish out the top three.
Photo © ESI Photography
“Crowd Pleaser is a great horse who lives up to his name! He is very seasoned and really enjoys competing in Derbies,” shared Haness. “I found him in France a few years ago and he has become a superstar hunter under the ownership of West Coast Equine Partners.”
Haness is no stranger to the winner’s circle for the derbies. During Week I of Desert Holiday, Haness won the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby aboard West Coast Equine Partners LLC’s Reese’s. Last week at Desert Holiday II, Haness again led the victory gallop in the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby, but this time with West Coast Equine Partners, LLC’s Fan Club.
Photo © ESI Photography
For his efforts as the top money earning professional across the three National Hunter Derbies during Desert Holiday, Haness was awarded with a $2,000 Leading Professional Hunter Rider Bonus, sponsored by Stal Hendrix.
“I am so thrilled to win the Derby Rider Bonus for the [Desert] Holiday Series. Many thanks to the whole team at Desert International Horse Park for offering this rider bonus,” Haness noted. “I won the national derby each week, on three different horses, so this was a really great way to wrap up the 2020 show season. I’m looking forward to being back here for the winter circuit!”
About the Desert International Horse Park
With nearly 1.3 million square feet of competition and riding space, the Desert International Horse Park is one of the largest equestrian facilities in North America. Offering multiple weeks of world-class equestrian competition from October through March, the facility is a destination location for thousands of equestrians, their horses, family and friends for several months annually. Competitors from all over the world travel to Thermal, CA to not only compete but to enjoy everything the desert has to offer.