Friday, April 18, marked an exciting milestone during the first week of the 2025 HITS Culpeper Show Series, as the Commonwealth National highlighted hunter competitors with the season’s first $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, presented by Voltaire. Throughout the season, HITS Culpeper hosts 12 weeks of hunter/jumper competition, including the popular six-week long HITS Culpeper Show Series, as well as six VHSA & The League Shows, offering classes sanctioned by the Virginia Horse Shows Association (VHSA) and by The League, presented by Marshall & Sterling Insurance. At the end of the day’s marquee event, it was professional rider Rachel Kennedy and her exceptional partner, Double Down, that delivered a standout performance, securing the win with an impressive combined score of 185.
Riders navigated a thoughtfully designed course by Danny Foster of Milton, Ontario, Canada, with rounds judged by David Wilbur, Sue Ashe, and Eric Dirks. The competition featured junior, amateur, and professional athletes, all showcasing their skills in a classic first round. The top 12 combinations then returned for the all-deciding handy round.
Kennedy qualified two rides for the handy round, but it was Double Down, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Emerald Van’t Ruytershof x Boy De La Barre II) owned by Sarah Brooks, that dazzled from start to finish. The pair earned a strong first-round score, positioning them well heading into the handy. They returned with a bold and precise handy round, propelling the duo to the top of the leaderboard.
“For the handy round, when I was warming up, I noticed a different approach to the first jump,” explained Kennedy of her second-round strategy. “It worked in my favor. It made me stand out to the judges and set me up for a couple of the harder turns later on in the course. I kind of just laid it out there and put a lot of pressure on the ones at the top, and it worked out.”
Kennedy, who trains out of her own ESP Farm in Brookeville, Maryland, has been developing Double Down for the past three years after acquiring him from fellow professional Taylor St. Jacques.
“He is probably one of the easiest horses in the barn,” shared Kennedy. “He always shows up to the party.”
Amateur rider Ashley De Woolfson earned the runner-up spot aboard Valandraud Clarion, a seven-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Verdi x Caritano Z) owned by Joseph Melnik. Rounding out the top three, Kennedy added another podium finish to her day with Cryptonite Z, a 14-year-old Warmblood gelding (Calato Z x Vaillant) owned by Carrie Gregory.
The hunter competition continued with The League Hunter Derbies, presented by Marshall & Sterling Insurance. In the $750 The League Bit O’ Straw 2’6” Hunter Derby, Charlotte Rankin Green rode Ducati, Mark Green’s 17-year-old Hanoverian gelding, to victory. Madelyn Bobenko and her own 18-year-old Welsh Pony gelding, Not Negotiable, secured top honors in The League Tiny Bit O’ 2’ Hunter Derby.
As the premier week of the 2025 HITS Culpeper Show Series wraps up, riders and spectators look ahead to even more excitement when the second VHSA & The League show gets underway on April 25, and the Showday National kicks off on July 2.
