THERMAL, CA (February 8, 2010)—Teenager Melissa Doddridge delivered a one-two punch in the all-new $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby when she captured both the blue and red ribbons in the two-round classic that highlighted the competition during Desert Circuit II at the HITS Desert Horse Park, in Thermal, California.
Doddridge, from Tustin, California, rode her horse Bentley to the top prize when she got the best of the 41 starters that took to course designer John Manning’s first-round course and the 12 that came back to compete in the handy phase.
She catapulted to the top of the class after receiving five bonus points for brilliance and handiness, and posted a total score of 91 in the second round. “The handy course was so much fun,” said Doddridge. “The most challenging part was finishing with eight strides away from the in-gate. My horses thought they were done, but the hardest part was yet to come!”
Doddridge, who is just 18, wasn’t done yet! She piloted Pamela Doddridge’s Best Man to the red ribbon as she knocked out some of the best hunter riders on the West Coast.
“Both horses were troopers,” said Doddridge.
Hope Glynn (Penngrove, California), who finished near the top in last week’s Devoucoux Hunter Derby, continued to shine when she guided Sabrina Hellmen’s Woodstock to the yellow ribbon and rode Courtney Siebert’s Tessa to a sixth-place finish.
The inaugural winner of the derby, John French (Gilroy, California) rode Victoria Komisar’s Over the Moon to a fourth-place effort and was fifth on Yellow Dog Farm’s Crown Affair.
This year, the all-new Devoucoux Hunter Derby will be a featured event at both the HITS Desert Circuit and the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit in Ocala, Florida, and represents the 13th division to count for points in the Marshall & Sterling League. In addition to the $10,000 classes at HITS winter shows in Thermal and Ocala, qualifying classes for the Devoucoux Hunter Derby will also be offered at the HITS Culpeper and HITS Saugerties shows this spring and summer. HITS has also invited a select number of additional horse shows in the Northeast to add the Devoucoux Hunter Derby to their show schedules which will help facilitate the growth of the class and provide further qualifying opportunities for the Marshall & Sterling League National Finals. The Devoucoux Derby Finals will be offered at the 2010 Marshall & Sterling League National Finals on September 16-19 in Saugerties, New York.
Hunter riders will get another chance to compete in this special class during Desert Circuit IV when the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby returns on Sunday, February 28.
Show jumping at the HITS Desert Circuit will resume tomorrow with Desert Circuit III. In addition to hosting the $10,000 Chronicle of the Horse/USHJA International Hunter Derby on Saturday, February 13, HITS Thermal will also host the 2010 Dressage Getaway CDI*** February 9-14. Highlighting the week for jumpers will be three more Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix qualifiers, including the $50,000 HITS CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health on Saturday night in the indoor arena.
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