The morning’s feature class in the Magnolia Arena was the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, presented by Laughlin Tanner Group at Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. The first Derby course included 11 jumping efforts and had four high options, with the successful completion of a high option adding one point to the score.
William Robertson, the derby course designer, has previously built courses at TerraNova’s hunter/jumper shows.
“Mike [Belisle] and I collaborated on the courses to come up with something that keeps to the classic hunter-type feel,” Robertson said. “[We kept] everything very natural, allowing them to keep on a normal stride.”
In the first round, Emily Smith (Aiken, South Carolina) and Vera Vita (Larino x Vita Wiwa), a 9-year-old warmblood mare owned by Lorian Peralta-Ramos, earned a 91 after jumping all of the high options. Brooke Cudmore (Bennington, Nebraska) and So They Say (Breitling LS x Kiki), an 11-year-old KWPN owned by Kathleen Rose, were the only other pair to jump the four high options, earning a first-round score of 89.
For the handy course, Robertson added a new trot fence and several rollback turns, including a tight left-handed rollback to the brush fence by the ingate at the second to last. The course included the same four high options as the first round.
Smith and Vera Vita stepped into the ring for their handy round following Cudmore and So They Say. Cudmore scored a 92, ending on a total score of 181.
“Brooke had an amazing handy round before me, so I knew I would have to try to do every turn that was out there and stay as tidy as I could,” Smith said. Smith and Vera Vita’s handy round earned them a 91, including the four points for all high options. With two points in hand after the first round, Smith pulled off the win by one point.
Robertson designed courses at TerraNova in 2023 and said he is pleased to return to the venue. “I love coming down here, it’s a nice feel,” Robertson said. “You can see the horses like it, the rings are a great size, the footing is always quite great, the jumps and materials are always fun to work with.”
This is Smith’s first time competing at TerraNova. “I’ve absolutely loved it,” Smith said. “It’s really beautiful here and it’s been great for the horses; the footing, the stabling, the arenas – the horses really seem to love it here.”
