WELLINGTON, Fla.--Jennifer Hannan of Wakefield, R.I., on Cellestino won the $25,000 USHJA International Hunt & Go Derby at the Winter Equestrian Festival while Daniel Geitneron Walk the Tides won the inaugural $75,000 USHJA WCHR East Coast Hunter Spectacular at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala on Friday, Jan. 30.
Jennnifer Hanan on Cellestino (Photo by Sportfot)Hannan won on a final score of 188.
“I’ve only had him for about a year now, and everything we’ve ever asked him to do, he steps up,” said Hannan. “He’s super brave, careful, very athletic and he has a massive stride. He’s everything you could ask for in a hunter.”
With a score of 92 in the classic and a 96 in the handy, Hannan won by a single point over runner-up Laena Romond of Brookefield, Conn.
“We were able to show off quite a bit in the classic round,” said Hannan. “The first round gave us a lot of opportunity to gallop, and this horse in particular really shows a good gallop.”
With less than two points separating the top three finishers, Romond was second on Oslo on a total score of 187, and she was also third on Fellow Z with a score of 185.75.
“We started Cellestino here last year in the 3’6” Performance Hunters and spent time figuring out what was best for him,” said Hannan. “We went right out and did a national derby on the grass, and he went nicely. Naturally, he stepped into the international derbies and had a wonderful summer last year.”
GEITNER on Walk the Tides won the Hunter Spectacular at WEC with an overall two-round score of 89.125, finishing ahead of Amanda Steege on Lafitte de Muze and David Wilbur with Four Aces.
A total of 34 combinations competed over Ken Krome’s Classic Hunter Round course, with the top 12 returning in reverse order of their first-round scores.
With a first-round score of 89.25, Geitner, of Aiken, S.C., and Walk the Tides was second heading into the Handy Hunter Round behind Wilbur’s 89.875.
Geitneer scored 89 tin the handy to win.
"Walk the Tides is a 9-year-old," said Geitner. "I show him in the Regular Conformation just sparingly now. His owner, Lynn Seithel, just moved up to the 3’6” Amateurs, and she was great and let me ride him this week in the Conformation. Then, a little bit last-minute, she said, ‘Let’s give it a try.' He’s a little greener. He hasn’t done anything like this, so she was kind enough to let me take over the reins for this class."
“He’s really old school. He looks like a Thoroughbred. You can’t hear him touching the ground, and you almost can’t ride him with too much leg at the jumps. He always holds off the jumps, and tonight, really, with the lights and the beautiful jumps, I was really able to gallop to the jumps,” he said.
WCHR Hunter Spectacular veterans Steege on Lafitte de Muze added 92.5 to her first-round score of 85.5 for an overall score of 89. to climb from fifth to second.
"I think this is my ninth year with Lafitte, so it's been a long-time partnership ,and I still feel like it gets better every time I go in the ring. It just gets more and more solid, so I'm lucky to have him," said Steege of her mount, who won the Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular in 2021. "I was really proud of the Handy and I hope to take that momentum forward. Lafitte goes to Wellington in two weeks to do the Hunter Spectacular there, so I hope to continue that type of riding."
Rounding out the top three, Wilbur, also of Ocala, Florida, rode Four Aces to scores of 89.875 and 87, for a two-round total of 88.438 for third place.
"I got to watch both Daniel and Amanda go, and they both had amazing Handy Rounds, so I was trying to kind of do about the same track and everything worked out really well, so it was a good day," said Wilbur of his second round plan.
