The next generation makes its mark in the HITS 5-star grand prix at Saugerties

The winner and runner-up in the HITS $400,500 grand prix were new faces, which German course designer Werner Deeg considers a good thing.

The finale of the Saugerties, N.Y., spring/summer series was won yesterday by 25-year-old Megan McDermott on Entano, logging her first 5-star victory, while her close friend, amateur rider Maria Costa, 29, was close behind aboard Presence.

There were many big names among the 26 starters; Hampton Classic grand prix winner Daniel Bluman, former World Champion and Olympic gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa, the eternal Margie Engle (fourth on Dicas as the fastest 4-faulter in the first round), Amanda Derbyshire and Hunter Holloway (second and third in the competition last year). Werner, however, found it refreshing that virtual unknowns were at the top of the class.

“There is a change of generation at the moment,” he maintained.

‘”You can see it in Europe as well.”

He told the young women, “What you did today it was absolutely fantastic. We need names like McLain and Beezie, but we need these names in the future. This is what we have to work with.”

HITS impresario Tom Struzzieri told Mean and Maria during the post-grand prix press conference, “You young ladies should be pretty excited. I’ve sat here many times with people who’ve gone on to some pretty great things.” He cited, among others, Andre Thieme of Germany, who has been a winner of the big classes at HITS and just took individual gold at the European Championships.

Megan, a Westchester County N.Y., resident who is based for the moment at Blythe Masters’ farm in Bedminster, N.J., was the only rider to produce a double-clear in the competition after topping the three-horse tie-breaker. She set the pace with a well-judged round in 48.69 seconds.

“He’s naturally quick and has a big stride,” said Megan, noting that if she let Entano go in the jump-off, she was rolling the dice.

“My strategy was to go a little bit medium so I would not lose control at the end and have one of the last couple of jumps down. I definitely felt there was risk for me nearing the end,” said Megan, who had skill and luck on her side.

Ireland’s David Blake went for it following Megan’s trip, but had 12 penalties on Keoki.

“Megan had a good tactic, she put a lot of pressure, I really had no choice but to chase,” David said.

“There were only three in the jump-off, there’s no real advantage to playing it safe. I was going to be second or third or win and had to give it a go. All we could do was try to beat her. It didn’t work out for us today,” David concluded.

Maria, who is a good friend of Megan’s, had the advantage of riding last.

Megan “put the pressure on,” said Maria, who coped as best she could aboard Presence.

“Unfortunately, coming to the second-to-last jump, I wasn’t able to get him back as much as I knew I needed to, I just wasn’t able to get it done. But I couldn’t be happier with the horse.”

Werner’s first round route had plenty of challenging loops as it wound around the enormous grand prix arena.

“The horses have to maintain the rhythm and free-forward movement. Let them go and make them happy, give them a chance,” said the designer, citing the importance of balance.

“For me, it is important not only having a nice rhythm from (fence) one to five, they have to keep the rhythm through 13 and 14.”

Werner’s techniques were effective, and he was proud that no horses had real difficulty along the path he laid out.

Analyzing how Werner did his job, David said, “I think he used the length of the course, with 14 jumps and 93 seconds (time allowed).

“Turning back to the triple bar (fence 11) was quite an uphill battle for a lot of horses, they fatigued a little bit. I think the length of the course was clever, and for a $400,000 grand prix it should be hard.”

The grand prix course.

The victory turned things around for Megan, who does most of her own work with her horse. She hired a freelance groom who didn’t come on time yesterday morning to feed her horse; when the groom finally rolled in, she already had done everything, and friends pitched in to free her up for the course walk. It wasn’t a propitious start to the day, but she turned it around..

It is only a little more than a year that she has been riding Entano, a 12-year-old son of Namelus R out of a Numero Uno mare.

“The first time I jumped him, I thought, `I’m going to win a 5-star grand prix on this horse,’” Megan confided.

“He’s difficult, he’s very quirky, it takes a lot to manage him properly. For it to come together on my first 5 star, he just couldn’t have been any better,” she said.

“I’ve had a really awful year, starting the last week of August 2020. I’ve had terrible luck inside the sport and outside the sport. The way to keep getting through it, every time I show, I say `I’m going to win the class.’

However, she added, “I have not won any classes or even come close in a long time. but I always do psych myself up and think i am going to win. That’s what i have to do to give it my all.”

While Megan and Maria are new faces, they work with people who are big names. Maria rides with Laura Kraut, a member of the U.S. silver medal team at the Olympics. She wasn’t on hand in Saugerties, but Maria credits her influence as an important part of her success.

Megan’s mentor is Daniel Bluman. He had her ride Entano when he was thinking of selling the Dutch-bred gelding as an amateur’s mount, because he wanted to see how the gelding would go with a female rider. Megan hit it off with the horse, and changed his destiny.

“He’s been a super complex and interesting horse to work with. I love the challenge of him,” the young professional said.

Asked what she will do with her $132,165 share of the purse, she responded, “Try to keep my business afloat.”

Among the day’s featured classes was the $200,000 Diamond Mills Hunter Prix, which went to Jimmy Torano on Laskano. His final score was 357.50 for today’s two rounds, edging Hannah Isop and Believe, who had a total of 356.

The horse belongs to Daryl Portela, who is practically a member of the Torano family.

Teary-eyed for a few moments after his victory, Jimmy explained, “A year ago exactly, the owner of this horse had a catastrophic fall and can never ride again, so this is an emotional win today

“He won the first round, he won the second round, he was circuit champion in Florida, he just tries to win every class he goes in,” he said of the horse he bought from Emil Spadone at Redfield Farm.

Jimmy was wearing an air vest during his time in the arena, something he, his wife, Danielle, and their 11-year-old son, JJ, feel strongly about.

“We had talked about her (Daryl) wearing a vest and it never materialized and she had that bad fall and I said, `We’re ordering them.’ From that day forward we wear them in every class.”

Although more riders are wearing the vests, not everyone wants to.