Championship Sunday at HITS Saugerties began with the high-energy concluding round of the richest Hunter class in the country, the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final. Aaron Vale, of Williston, Florida, and Dress Balou, owned by Donald Stewart, did it again, winning their second consecutive title in the renowned event to secure a reign at the top. Vale’s game of cat and mouse with Victoria Colvin, riding Dr. Betsee Parker’s Inclusive, ignited in Friday’s first round and continued through Saturday’s second round, going back and forth with the leading scores, and both were guaranteed an appearance in the top 25 on Sunday. “She [Colvin] was a smidge ahead of us going in there and out of the two preliminary rounds, she beat us once and we beat her once. So we knew she was the one to go after,” said owner Donald Stewart. Sunday’s round three offered the top 25 competitors a clean slate from their previous scores and the fresh start was the perfect way to impress the judges and move up in the ranks. The class began but it wasn’t until the fourth entry, Patricia Griffith of New York, New York, and Akinda, owned by Hillside Farm LLC, navigated the course set by Rian Beals of Saugerties, New York, that the competition heated up. They were careful in their movements finishing with scores of 85, 86 and 88 for the lead with a total of 259. The attempts continued throughout the order, but no one could touch Griffith at the top. That was until Adrienne Iverson and Reliance, owned by Brook Run Farm, LLC, strutted into the ring. Steadily they completed the course with scores of 85, 88 and 89.5, totaling 259, and just enough to tie Griffith. Twenty-fourth in the order, Vale was confident in his craft and led his six year old mount to scores of 89, 91 and 89 for a total of 269 and the lead. “The course was pretty and the ring is beautiful,” said Vale. “There is a bit of atmosphere with the money at stake and the crowd was into it so you can feel a little bit of electricity out there.” Colvin was last in the order and she topped the charts with a high total score of 271, the result of a 91, 87 and 93. The top four had one last round to give it their all and either Colvin, Vale, Iverson or Griffith would be crowned victorious. First in the round four order, Griffith finished her round with a total score of 258, and an overall score of 517. She was followed by Iverson who sailed to a total of 262 and an overall score of 521 to best Griffith by four points. Spectators grew quiet as Vale entered next and gave his everything in attempt to make up for the three points between him and Colvin after round three. Careful, with just enough presentation to catch the attention of the judge’s panel, he exited the ring as a total score of 268, and a 537 overall, echoed through the show grounds. Colvin was next and the crowd grew silent again as she met every fence in stride. She piloted her way through the course to earn a total of 264, but it was not enough to top Vale. Her overall score of 535, just 2 points behind Vale, for the red ribbon. “Going into the last round I kind of opened the stride in the gallops, showed a little more pace. I wanted to show off and catch the judge’s eye a little bit,” said Vale. Although the win was a true team effort, Vale gave all the credit to his four legged partner, “He made it through four rounds cleanly and the rounds were smooth and consistent. We never really batted an eye. He’s the best jumper in the class so over four rounds that really showed.” “We saved this horse for a year, to come back here and do this again,” added Stewart. “And with the best rider I could find in the world, and it paid off. You have to be patient and play your cards right.”
