The penultimate day of prestigious World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) competition during the HITS Ocala Winter Classic debuted under a crisp Florida sunrise on Saturday, February 7, 2026, as pairings put the finishing touches on their warm up for the second $2,500 ClipMyHorse.TV Classic Qualifier of the season. Crescendoing a week full of elite hunter performances, the event was the second of eight qualifying classes taking place across HITS venues ahead of the prestigious $300,000 ClipMyHorse.TV 3’6” Open Hunter Classic Final and brand-new $50,000 ClipMyHorse.TV 3’ Junior and Amateur Hunter Classic Finals, all taking place at HITS Hudson Valley in Saugerties, New York, in September. Topping the field and punching her ticket to the final, 18-year-old Emma Bao of Ottowa, Ontario, piloted Baker’s Dozen to the win.
Riders vying for a spot in the event’s epic finale brought their best hunter mounts to compete over the single-round track designed by Maja Lindemann. Judges Gary Duffy and Scott Williamson kept a watchful eye to determine the class’s eventual winner. As Bao landed from the final fence of her trip and cheering ensued, it was clear the performance stood out, as the judges awarded her an impressive total of 88.00 points for her efforts.
“Winning today feels really amazing,” enthused Bao, adding that the class was one of the primary reasons she made the trip down to HITS Ocala to ride this weekend. “I’m currently in my last year of high school and going back and forth with school, but I came back at the end of last week to have some time here.
“With it being a little bit later in our show week, ‘Donut’ was feeling really brave to all of the jumps today,” she continued of her plan for the morning’s featured event. “We were able to just get right in there and jump our best round.”
Partnered with the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Dinken for the past four years, Bao is one of the youngest competitors to take the win in a qualifier and hopes to find a way to juggle it all come September.
“We’ve really come a long way because we started in the Children’s and are now in the Junior Hunters and starting to compete in some of the bigger derbies,” she explained. “He is just such a classy horse, and he really enjoys knowing exactly what he’s supposed to do. I think he truly loves a classic round because he can just take a breath and focus on a simpler track than say a derby or a handy round.”
Hannah Matts of Ocala, Florida, pinned in the runner-up position aboard Celsius, Redfield Farm’s 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Cellestial, with a total score of 86.00 points, just two points off the leaders. Alexa Harris of Jamesville, New York, rounded out the top three highest-scoring riders and the three to qualify for the final aboard Como L, Jordan Kempisty’s 14-year-old Polish Warmblood by Che Guevara L, with a score of 82.00 points.
The final day of the HITS Ocala Winter Classic will conclude on Sunday, February 8, with a variety of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. For full results, please visit www.showmanagementsystem.com.
