Hunter Kay (Columbia, SC) and Galileo (Unknown x Unknown) took charge in the $10,000 USHJA Open National Hunter Derby, winning the first of three Hunter Derbies hosted Friday during Tryon Spring 6 and Tryon Riding & Hunt Club Charity Horse Show. The team dominated over 13 contestants on the Derby Field, scoring 182 points. Riding Meredith Huddle’s Bluewater (Unknown x Unknown), the 2017 Dutch Warmblood gelding, Liza Boyd (Camden, SC) secured the reserve rosette on 176 points. Jennifer Bliss (Wellington, FL) took Wailea, the 2014 Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Ohana Equine LLC, to third place with 173 points on the board. 

Thursday’s $32,000 LeMieux Welcome Stake CSI 2* was championed by Luis Fernando Larrazabal (VEN) and San Francisco Stables LLC’s 2016 Dutch Warmblood mare Lizelottie W (Comme Il Faut 5 x Guidam), with the fastest jump off round time of 36.45 seconds. Placing second out of the 12 competitors in the jump off, aboard Bull Run’s Kingdom, the 2015 Dutch Warmblood gelding (Dutch Design x Laptop) owned by Bull Run Jumpers Inc, was rider Kristen VanderVeen (USA) in a time of 37.28 seconds. Reaching the podium with both his entries, Luis Fernando Larrazabal (VEN) rode Leeann Ablin’s 2015 Westfalen mare, Baroness (Balous Bellini x Polydor) to a time of 37.71 and third place.

Gigi Phillips (USA) and Thunderbird were victorious under the lights in Tryon Stadium to win the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby presented by The Farm House, taking her second consecutive derby win of the day at Tryon International Equestrian Center & Resort (Tryon International)