Riders with California ties commanded the podium in Saturday night’s $100,000 WCHR Peter Weatherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular, as John French won with the 8-year-old Hanoverian Milagro.
Hunter Spectacular winner John French and Milagro. (Photo Jump Media LLC)
The horse’s name means miracle in Spanish, and that’s what it was for John, who got his first victory in the class at age 60 with a total of 187.5 for the two-round test.
A longtime Californian who won the Pacific Coast Horsemen’s Aasociation Perpetual Troophy many times over three decades, he is back on the East Coast (he was originally from Maryland) riding for Kent Farrington LLC.
In second place was a rider 42 years John’s junior, the 2022 ASPCA Maclay winner Augusta Iwasaki. The Southern Methodist University equestrian team member was aboard Small Love, owned, by her parents’ operation, Iwasaki and Reilly. Her score was 184.49.
Nick Hanness, third on Glade Run Farm’s Queen Celeste, has been commuting back and forth between California and Wellington as he prepared for the big hunter week in Florida. He had a total for the two rounds of 180.41.
“I think riding in this kind of atmosphere brings out the best in all horses,” said John, who last year was inducted into the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame.
“They were all jumping so well tonight, and I think the lights, the crowds and the jumps really showcased the hunters. There aren’t a lot of these classes left, so we get excited for nights like this and so do our horses.