Four championship finals for five- through eight-year-old horses highlight Saturday’s $100,000 USHJA Young Jumper Championships presented by North Star Sport Horses at Flintfields Horse Park
8-Year-Old Final | Hunter Holloway and Elmietta PS
Hunter Holloway was the queen of clear rounds in the $100,000 USHJA Young Jumper Championship, presented by North Star, as she piloted two young, up-and-coming horses to overall championships in the 7- and 8-Year-Old Finals on Saturday. As one to watch already at the top of the sport, the Kansas-based rider has a fleet of powerful young horses that prove she will be one to watch at the high levels for many years to come.
In the 8-Year-Old Final, Holloway rode Elmietta PS to the only fully clear slate of the week in the challenging 8-Year-Old Final. The mare, owned by Blue Star Investments, posted the only clear of the exciting Final to take the win. The reserve championship went to Livella SR with Niko Ritter aboard for Hollow Tree Show Jumping, and Layla 74 was third with Kris Killam riding for Carnes Equestrian Holdings.
“It’s been fantastic,” Holloway said of her week in the USHJA Young Jumper Championships, now taking home two titles on up-and-coming mounts that she hopes to carry to the top of the sport. “It’s so exciting to get to show off the young horses we have. Elmietta is a world class horse and she showed it today. It’s a great format; it’s really neat to come back for three days and jump three rounds and do our best.”
Elmietta PS shares a sire with Holloway’s winning 7-year-old: Eldorado van de Zeshoek. While she was not a homebred for the winning rider, Holloway is taking an interest in breeding from her own top mares, and she hopes to see those upcoming young horses take on challenges like this in a few years.
“We have a lot [of homebreds] out of Pepita Con Spita and a lot out of Henry Jota Ariel and all very good stallions they’re bred to, so that should be exciting,” Holloway said of her newest venture. “I’ve always enjoyed the idea of breeding and we’ve had some funds handy to get to use towards breeding and the future of our sport.”
North Star 7-Year-Old Final | Hunter Holloway and Olympia
Another hopeful grand prix superstar in Holloway’s string took top call in the North Star 7-Year-Old Final, leading from wire to wire throughout the week. Holloway piloted the Hays Investment Corp’s entry Olympia to the win, producing an impressive fully-clear slate over three days of jumping.
The top four finishers jumped all clear rounds throughout the championship, which put them all into a jump-off on Saturday for the win, and Holloway and Olympia were the quickest clear effort in 36.719 seconds.
Reserve champion honors went to Denali Z with owner Hayley Barnhill aboard, securing the only other clear jump-off round. Denali Z was also named the best U.S.-bred 7-year-old, jumping clear through three rounds and the jump-off. Savannah Jenkins piloted the Alora Sporthorses entry Jour J de L’Abbaye to third place in the championship.
“I love this horse,” Holloway said of Olympia, also by Eldorado van de Zeshoek. “He’s the best and he’s really showing what he’s made of so it’s exciting. I think he’ll be a big horse in my grand prix string. Hopefully the next two years are building years for him and then he’ll start to shine in the grand prix ring.”
Holloway is no stranger to the grand prix ring in Traverse City and all over the world, so it’s evident her expertise equips her younger mounts with the confidence they need to step up to bigger stages like this one.
“It is a good introduction to the team format and what the horses have to come as they get older,” she said of the USHJA Young Jumper Championships. “It’s good practice for us as riders. It’s a super facility here in Traverse City, a great ring to do it in.”
6-Year-Old Final | Kendra Gohr and Odessa d’Or
Kendra Gohr and her homebred Odessa d’Or claimed the $3,000 6-Year-Old Jumper Final, completing their final round clear in 72.897 seconds to finish the championship penalty-free across all three rounds. James Billington and Samantha Mackenzie’s Power Play WB finished second, while Hayley Barnhill and Uruguay M, owned by Chapin Cheska, took third. Odessa d’Or was also recognized as the Best U.S.-Bred Horse in the six-year-old division.
“I just wanted to go in and have a clear round and genuinely enjoy my horse because she’s the most special thing to me,” Gohr reflected on Odessa d’Or, by Diabolo d’Ewquelmes, out of DRF Maggie. “She’s my 6-year-old homebred and she has a heart of gold. I just wanted to have fun.”
Gohr has been part of Odessa d’Or’s development from the beginning, from handling her as a foal to starting her under saddle. After entering the year unsure how far the mare might progress, Saturday’s championship reinforced Gohr’s belief in her future.
“I think that I’ve waited a long time for this horse to come into my life, and now I’m just so grateful that she’s mine,” Gohr said. “It’s so special. I have learned that I won’t sell her in the near future and I hope that she can continue to be this special to me for the next few years.”
North Star 5-Year-Old Final | Lisa Goldman-Smolen and Pharoah RCF
It was a special Saturday for Lisa Goldman-Smolen as she piloted her homebred Pharoah RCF to victory in the $8,000 North Star 5-Year-Old Jumper Final, producing a clear jump-off time of 30.803 seconds. Ali Wolff and her own Bishop Briggs finished second in 31.276 seconds, while Rachel Long and the Long Farms entry Zanzibar Blue LF took third.
“I had no intention of there being a jump-off,” Goldman-Smolen said, knowing the course for the day was a challenging one for 5-year-olds. “I just wanted to jump a clean round and he jumped up really well. I made a tidy turn or two. He hadn’t really done any jump-offs, so I was really happy with him.”
For Goldman-Smolen, the win was particularly meaningful because Pharoah RCF is a homebred whose pedigree connects generations of her own past and current mounts. Pharoah RCF is by Sovereign, her longtime grand prix partner still competing at age 20, and out of Romance B, a half-sister to her former grand prix horse Centurion B, who competed in these championships 20 years ago.
“The second he hit the ground, I thought he was a completely plain chestnut with no marks, but one of the most beautiful horses I’ve ever seen,” Goldman-Smolen said of Pharoah RCF. “I always hoped he would be the next big special one.”
Goldman-Smolen pointed to Romeo B, competing at the CSI3* level this week after winning the five-year-old final in Traverse City, as an example of where she hopes that development can lead.
“We brought many through the ranks,” she said. “I’m hoping to keep them coming up and doing the big classes.”
From Four-Year-Olds to the Future of the Sport
Saturday’s four finals followed Thursday’s $4,000 North Star 4-Year-Old Jumper Final, where Rachel Long swept the top two places aboard Casual Acquaintance and Darc Blue LF.
Joan Jacobs of North Star Sport Horses, the sponsor for the $100,000 USHJA Young Jumper Championships, is a huge believer in the development of young horses for the top of the sport.
“I’m hoping more people understand that they have to develop these young horses,” Jacobs reflected during the championships. “Good horses are tough to find, especially at the top level. I think this is a really good experience for them. Every horse on this show grounds has gone through this for the first time.”
For Jacobs, her favorite part about bringing up the young ones is her ability to get to know each horse as well as possible before exposing them to higher levels of competition.
“I’m in this for the long haul and I thoroughly enjoy the young ones,” she shared. “It keeps life interesting. I get them really young so we start them at home and I know everything about that horse by the time it’s coming here. It’s really rewarding to come to someplace like this knowing your horse so well.”
Special Awards
4-Year-Old:
Ginger Brogan, Young Jumper Grooms Award
Best U.S. Bred Horse: Casual Acquaintance, sired by Cartier
5-Year-Old:
Maureen Dooney, Young Jumper Grooms Award
Best U.S. Bred Horse: Pharoah RCF, sired by Sovereign
6-Year-Old:
Bethany Parins, Young Jumper Grooms Award (Trainer)
Best U.S.-Bred Horse: Odessa d’Or, sired by Diabolo D’Esquelmes
7-Year-Old:
Alexandre Bertinchamps, Young Jumper Grooms Award
Best U.S.-Bred Horse: Denali Z, sired by Dulf van den Bisschop.
8-Year-Old:
Lorenzo Rugama, Young Jumper Grooms Award
No U.S.-Bred entries
Leading Owner: Hayes Investment Corporation
Leading U.S. Breeder: Kendra Gohr — Green Bay, Wisconsin
Leading Young Jumper Rider: Hunter Holloway — Topeka, Kansas
Leading Young Jumper Trainer: Caroline McLeese — Omaha, Nebraska
Breeder’s Cup Perpetual Trophy, donated by DiAnn Langer and Red Top Farm: Hunter Holloway
Competition concludes Sunday at the Silver Oak Jumper Tournament with the $116,050 Agero & Silver Oak CSI3* Grand Prix. The final day will also feature the $10,000 Stud Tree & Silver Oak 1.40-1.45m Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic and the Gajoch Family 1.30-1.35m Junior/Amateur Classic.
Find daily sport coverage, results, photos, schedules, and more throughout the Tournament of Champions at the TCHS Mobile App.
