Augusta Iwasaki Takes Top Two in $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, Presented by Taylor Harris Insurance Services

Junior rider Augusta Iwasaki simply dominated the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, presented by Taylor Harris Insurance Services. With final scores of 182.5 and 179, she took home first and second, topping a field of forty-two entries. Her winning entry was First Draft, owned by Joann Goldsman. Scoring an impressive 92 in the Classic Round and then a 90.5 in the Handy, Iwasaki and First Draft held their lead and led the victory gallop, sporting a blue ribbon and a Blenheim EquiSports embroidered cooler. Iwasaki was also presented with a pair of Roeckl Sports gloves and an engraved Blenheim pewter plate. And once again, the twelve-year-old took home The Plaid Horse Highest Placing Junior Award.

"He's so much fun to ride," Iwasaki boasted of her winning partner, whom she sat on for the first time last week. She noted their unique routine, which works well because the young rider has several mounts in the same class. "I don't really warm up; I just get on him and go in the ring, which is pretty cool."

Iwasaki competes in the Junior Hunters with First Draft. With her second place finisher, Georgy Maskrey-Segesman's Cavalier, she plans to venture east to compete in the 2017 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship in Kentucky later this season. Iwasaki was also eighth aboard Illusion.

RESULTS
$5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, presented by Taylor Harris Insurance Services
Place - Horse - Rider - Owner - Rd 1 Score/Rd 2 Score/Overall Score
1. First Draft - Augusta Iwasaki - Joann Goldsman - 92/90.5/182.5
2. Cavalier - Augusta Iwasaki - Georgy Maskrey-Segesman - 86/93/179
3. Conux - Jamie Krupnick - Georgy Maskrey-Segesman - 84.5/90/174.5
4. Oboras Split - Katie Taylor - Shannon Nugent - 84/89.5/173.5
5. Holland - Katie Taylor - Shama Alghurair - 85/88/173
6. Black Label - Jacqueline Attwood-Dupont - Catherine Guyman - 85/87/172
7. Fine Design - Stella Wasserman - Laura Wasserman - 85/86/171
8. Illusion - Augusta Iwasaki - Iwasaki & Reilly - 79/91/170
9. Typecast - Sybil Rose - Homestead Lane Farm - 81.5/86/167.5
10. Columbus - Peter Lombardo - Ann Turley-Adams - 88/79/167
11. Cambridge - Brenna Bollig - Nola Dyal - 82/84/166
12. Skyhawk - Stella Wasserman - Laura Wasserman - 79/86/165