LEXINGTON, Ky.--Taylor Cawley of Wellington, Fla., won the ASPCA Maclay National Championship over 172 juniors that had qualified to compete in the final.

Taylor CawleyThe class began at 7 a.m and wasn't completed until close to 6 p.m.

Following the first round, 24 were selected to ride on the flat, with the 24 divided into three groups of eight.

The flat phase counted equally with the jumping phase.

The 24 then competed over a second course, and finally the judges had the top four compete again.

The final test called for the rider to walk into the ring, hand gallop to the first fence, canter the next fence, turn and canter a combination, turn again to the final fence, and then halt for four to six seconds before walking from the ring.

Competing in reverse order of preference, Maddie Tosh of Milton, Ga. went first, but she had trouble holding the halt.

Christian Dominguez of Barrington, R.I., was next and had a beautiful round, followed by Adriana Forte of Water Mill, N.Y., and then Cawley, who had a good, strong hand gallop to the first fence and a beautiful round.

Cawley won over Dominguez with Forte third and Tosh fourth.

 

CAWLEY also won a trophy for being the leading rider after round one, with a score of 93, and Tosh won the Wilson Dennehy trophy for the rider with the most points accrued over the Medal and Malay finals.

"It's amazing," said Cawley, who trains with Stacia Madden and the team from Beacon Hill. "It's always been such an important class."

Cawley rode Oki D'Eclipse, a horse owned by Madden that she's ridden for about a year.

“This final is so special to me, I’ve always wanted to do well here and to have won it is so amazing," said Cawley. "I think it holds so much history and so many amazing competitors have competed here, so it’s truly an honor to be able to have won this class."

"I went 90th in the original order and walking the first course, I thought it was a lot about keeping your horse straight and his adjustability," she said. "I was very happy with my first round, I feel I executed it the best that I could. Going into the second round, I focused on staying straight and sticking to the plan. For the test I think we started off strong with a hand gallop, I wanted to show that off and still be able to do the inside turn after and I think it all worked out really well.”

 Dominguez, who is trained by Jennifer Hnnan, rode his own Iwan.

“The courses were great," said Doninguez. "it’s been all about riding the track. I think having a plan before you go in and executing that is the most important thing and if you do that your results will reflect."

"I’ve had my horse Iwan for four years, and I feel very privileged to have him because he’s never put a foot out of line," he said. "He always shows up and the relationship I’ve built with him is so special, I can walk in there and I know what’s going to happen every time so I can formulate a plan around that."

Forte, who is trained by Andre Dignelli, rode Heritage Farm's Candescent.

“I think sticking to the plan is important to any final you go to," said Forte. "For me, you can’t always depend on watching other rounds to do well. I think it’s a matter of knowing your horse and working with your trainer to ensure you are putting down the best round. My horse has been with Heritage for a while now and he is the sweetest animal and I can always trust him wherever I put him at a jump and he will always try his hardest for me.”

The class was judged by Cynthia Hankins, Lyman T. Whiehead, Scott Fitton and Keri Kampsen, and they sat in two panels at different spots in the ring.

"Judging panels from opposite sides of the ring means you might see something differently," said Hankins.

Cawley said she wants to continue with jumpers and might go to Europe next summer, hopefully to show a little there.

For what may have been a first time, both sisters and a brother and sister made the finals, with one of each pair finishing in the top 10.

Both Kate and Brooke Hagerty of Terrebonne, Oreg., rode in the final, with Brooke finishing eighth, and Collin and Olivia Sweetnam of Wellington, Fla., and Lexington, made the finals, with Olivia finishing 10th.

JJ Torano, who won the Medal Finals in Harrisburg two weeks earlier, had a rail down in the first round, which is an automatic four point deduction, and didn't make the second phase.