Following the Platinum Performance $100,000 Hunter Prix Final was the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final. With the top twenty-five coming back for the third round, the competition heated up as the fourth round approached. Of the twenty-five riders, Amanda Steege, Tracy Fenney, Augusta Iwasaki, and Dorothy Douglas would be the top four to come back for the fourth round.
Following in the spotlight for MTM Farm, Douglas would be the first to come back for the fourth round aboard S & L LION KING with a smooth course earning a combined score of 351.25, putting the pair in fourth place overall. "We have an amazing permanent barn on property at HITS Post Time Farm so we love it there, but we also get excited to come to HITS Saugerties for the HITS Championship Week." said Douglas.
Iwasaki took to the course next with her mount SMALL OCCASION, quietly jumping fence after fence and earning a combined score of 353 and earning third place overall. Iwasaki was the winner of the 2017 $100,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix Final and joined HITS all the way from California for this prestigious class. MTM OUTBID and Fenney, the second rider in the top four from MTM Farm, entered next, laying down a solid course and being a strong contender for the win earning a score a combined score of 356 and taking second place overall. "I primarily only show hunters and we don't have any other classes in the country where you can win $150,000 in one class, so it is exciting." Fenney stated when speaking about the uniqueness of HITS Saugerties. Last to go was Steege, maneuvering through an incredible course and holding her top spot from the third round with a combined score of 362, taking the win.
Steege was awarded first place aboard LAFITTE DE MUZE, a seven-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Cheryl Olsten of New Hope, Pennsylvania. "This has been my first full year with this horse. I got him from Europe in the fall and took him to his first show at HITS Ocala this past winter, where I started doing the Devoucoux Hunter Prix with him. He has a lot of potential," said Steege, a repeat HITS customer and champion. "I've been second and third in the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final before here at HITS Saugerties, so it is really exciting to finally win at this great facility."
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