Saturday brought the $35,000 LA Saddlery Grand Prix. This class was accompanied by an excellent VIP Dinner, hosted by Charlebois Farm. On Friday the $5,000 USHJA National Derby was presented by Asuncion Valley Farms. During the Derby, San Marcos Creek Vineyard sponsored a wine tasting and spectators had the opportunity to enjoy some of their wonderful collection of wines.
The $35,000 LA Saddlery Grand Prix was won by amateur rider Molly Talla and her own horse Complete Luck. Molly put the pressure on the competition, and although a close run class, she took the lead from Mandy Porter and Milano, following closely behind in third was Kristin Hardin and Firestone S. Seven horses made it through to the jump-off over a challenging course designed by Anderson Lima.
The $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby blue ribbon was presented to Gary Striker, riding Pam Saulovich's Rayyan. Gary was certainly pleased with Rayyan's performance.
"I am very proud of Rayyan for giving me two nice rounds in his second Derby." explained Gary. "The course was beautiful, well designed and the turf was fantastic. Thank you to Richard and Pam Saulovich for the ride."
Addyson Cord and Zidane followed behind Gary by only 1.5 points and Lauren Burke and Askarri produced a fantastic handy round securing third place honors.
The USHJA National Hunter Derby course was built by John Manning, we all look forward to next week's USHJA International Hunter Derby.
