The 2016 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) completed its final day of competition on Sunday with a win for Russell Frey and Nina Koloseike Moore’s Kodachrome in the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby. Held on the beautiful grass field at The Stadium at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC), the final feature of the circuit was presented by Dietrich Insurance and hosted by Tailored Sportsman, and sponsored by Charles Owen, Dover Saddlery, The Clothes Horse and Essex Classics. The first round of derby competition was held in the E.R. Mische Grand Hunter Ring on Saturday, where 45 entries took on the first round course designed by Ken Krome. Two panels of judges scored each round, and riders were awarded extra points for jumping high options. The top 24 entries then moved on to the derby field for Sunday’s handy round, jumping Bobby Murphy’s course with natural obstacles on the grass. Two panels of judges once again scored the contestants, awarding bonus points for high options as well as handiness on course. Judges Rick Fancher and Jack Towell scored the rounds on panel one, and Danny Robertshaw and Jim Clapperton judged the rounds on panel two. Russell Frey and Kodachrome led the standings heading into Sunday’s final round with the high score of 185 in round one. The pair then earned the high score of 200 on Sunday for the winning two-round total of 385. Kodachrome is an eight-year-old Warmblood gelding that Moore purchased for Frey last year with hopes that the gelding had Derby Finals potential. “He was doing the 3’3” Performance Hunters starting out, and I just saw him and liked him, and then I tried him and had to have him,” Frey stated. “He has learned and come along. This was his first really big derby. This was a different type of class, to show over at the horse show on the grand hunter field, and then to come over here just to do the handy round on the field in a completely different venue for all of the horses. It was a pretty good test for every horse and rider that was out there. Samantha Schaefer and her own Classified sat second coming into Sunday’s round with a score of 184 carrying over from their first round. The pair then earned a score of 190 for their handy course, finishing second overall with a total score of 374. The 11-year-old Hanoverian stallion is Schaefer’s amateur hunter and this was only their third derby together. Jennifer Bliss and Harris Hill Farm LLC’s Poker Face finished fourth with scores of 171 and 185 for a 356-point total. Peter Wylde and Dana Tourville’s Candor 15 placed fifth, also with a 356-point total, carrying over a 173 from round one and receiving 183 in round two. Scores from judging panel two broke the tie for sixth place. Louise Serio and Autumn Janesky’s Temptation rounded out the top six with scores of 173.5 and 182 for a 355 total.
