DEVON, Pa.--Gigi Phillips, 18 of Charlotte, N.C., on Gleke de Cour au Bois won the $10,000, 1.15m Amateur Jumper Classic and, after also winning a class on Sunday, won the Championship on Monday, May 26 at the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair.
Gigi Phillips on Gleke de Cour au Bois (Photo by Kind Media)Alexis C. DiPasqua on Copain was Reserve.
"I'm a working student at Shadowbrook Farm in Westminster,Md., under Sam Schaeffer," said Phillips. "I'm off to school at the University of Georgia in August."
"I started leasing this mare in March," she said. "I've only had five shows on her. I'm still getting used to riding jumpers. I had been doing 1.10m on Gleke. Before that I was doing hunters. When I aged out of juniors after December, I thought it would be fun to do jumpers."
"Gleke is sweet," she said."She knows what she is doing. It's nice to have her because she shows me around. She loves showing. My lease runs out in September."
"I'll be on the Division One riding team at Georgia, so I won't need a horse," said Phillips.
Hunters began on Monday, and the first three championships were awarded Tuesday.
John French rode Little Brook's Kaiden to win the Green Hunter 3'6" Championship with 38 points, and Laena Romond on Forsini was Reserve.
NICK HANESS of Temecula,Calif., opened his defense of the Devon Leading Hunter Rider Award by winning the Green Conformation Hunter Championship on John and Stephanie Ingram's Odette with 45 1/2 points.
That point total gives Odette a good chance of winning the Grand Hunter Championship.
Scott Stewart of Flemington, N.J., was Reserve on Fidelio with 24 points.
Stewart, who was Leading Hunter Rider at Devon so many times that he coudn't count them, surrendered the title to Haness in 2023, who then won it again last year.
Tara Metzner on Davlyn Farms' Saint was Green Hunter 3'9" Champion with 24 1/2 points, with Halie Robinson on Tangelina Reserve.
High Performance Conformation and Working Hunters began on Tuesday with their championships to be awarded Wednesday, and Stewart helped his battle to regain the Leading Hunter Rider title.
Riding California Love in the High Performance Conformation Hunter, he won the Model and one over fences class and was second in the other, and then he won a High Performance Working Hunter class on Daydream.
