It was as close to a photo finish as you can get in the finals of the $223,350 Platinum Performance/ USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship.
The overnight leader, John French on Paradigm, finished just 0.25 points ahead of Geoffrey Hesslink on Drumroll to take the $37,719.35 winner’s share.
John French and Paradigm on the way to victory. (Photo courtesy USHJA)
John, who won the first Derby in 2009 on Rumba, showed he hasn’t lost a step with a score of 599.25, his total for Friday’s Classic round and Saturday night’s Handy round in the A section.
John French and Paradigm, Derby champs.
He stayed on the counter-lead from the first fence to the second, figuring he didn’t have enough pace to do a change, and had a small rub, but the judges didn’t hold it against him.
He was scored 97.5, 95.75, 93.25 as the last rider to go in the Handy. His total for the two rounds (Classic and Handy) with the former breeding stallion was 599.25; Geoffrey’s was 599 on a son of prestigious sire Diamant de Semilly.
“I don’t think there has been one this close before,” said John.
“It’s been a long time, I won the first one and I’ve been hoping to do it again and it hasn’t happened. It finally happened tonight. I can relax again.”
John is based in Florida, as is Jimmy Torano, third on Laskano with 586.50. The runner-up entry is from Basking Ridge, N.J.
The Handy round course map
Paradigm, owned by Meredith Lipke, and Meridian Farm’s Drumroll were 1-2 after the Classic round, where Amanda Steege was third on Lafitte de Muze. A “heartbreaking” rail in the Handy dropped Amanda to 26th place.
But she vowed on social media, “We will be back….we are fighters….we will be back in 2024 to battle again.”
The Derby podium: winner John French, center; runner-up Geoffrey Hesslink, left and Jimmy Torano, third.
The course in the 3 1/2-acre stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington was designed by Alan Lohman. He came up with an interesting closed pen, the third obstacle, that was a focal point of the 13 jumping efforts.
Horses jumped in on the long side and took two strides to jump out (some crossed panels in doing so, but made it look smooth.) Once out of the pen, they came back in over a trot jump on the short side, then looped around inside the pen and jumped out on the short side next to the trot jump. After that, it was a good nine strides to a brush oxer.
Derby competition has changed the hunter game across the country, and the finals are a grand finale, with $18 million having been given away since their inception in 2009.
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