World Championship Hunter Rider Week at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla., was highlighted with a victory by Victoria Colvin and Dicoblue PS in the $150,000 WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular.
That combination, which won the USHJA International Hunter Derby last summer, added another laurel to their collection by leading all the way through the two-round competition.
Tori Colvin and Dicoblue PS. (Photo ©Sportfot)
Tori and the 11-year-old son of Diarado’s Boy posted a 94.666 score in the first round and topped it with a 97 in the handy segment. One of the judging panels gave the entry a perfect score of 100. The winning average was 95.83 over courses designed by Meghan Rawlins.
Of her mount, owned by Stephanie and John Ingram, Tori said, “He is the best. He has not been fazed by anything. I was confident that he was going to be good, but you also never know. He walked in and was fantastic. I couldn’t have asked him to do anything better.”
Twelve from a 30-horse field at 3’6”, 3’9” and 4’ jump heights returned for the handy round.
“The Handy was the most fun for me,” said Tori, a resident of Loxahatchee, Fla.
“The course designer gave us many options, especially at the split-rail complex. You could jump the hay bales or the stick jumps either way. I jumped it straight, which most people did,” said Tori, who has won the Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular six times previously, but not since 2020.
Laena Romond of Brookfield, Conn., riding Oslo, owned by Lexi Maounis took second on scores of 90.16 and 92.33 for a 91.24 average. Rounding out the top three, Scott Stewart of Wellington finished on an 89.41 after scores of 87.83 and 91 were averaged for Cadet, owned by Stephanie Danhakl.
When asked about her mental game during big weeks like WCHR at WEF, Tori responded, “I never really get super nervous. I go into the ring and know the horse is going to do his best, and I’m going to try and do my best. I try not to put too much pressure on us.”
While making waves in the professional division with Colvin, Dicoblue PS also carried his owner, John Ingram, in the amateur-owner ranks.
Tori mentioned the significance of WCHR Week at WEF. saying, “This whole season, we’ve been gearing up for this week so that all the horses are prepared and ready. It’s exciting to see some new faces from Ocala and other places coming down for this. It’s very competitive and fun. I look forward to it every year.”
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