WELLINGTON, Fla.--John French on Kent Farrington LLC’s Milagro won the $100,000 USHJA World Championship Hunter Rider Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular on Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
John French on Milagro While French has numerous accolades to his name, including seven WCHR Professional Challenges, this particular title had eluded him until now.
As the last to go in the First Round over the Patrick Rhodes-designed track, French and Milagro’s performance earned the high score of 94.
In the Handy Round, which featured a downward transition to the trot to change direction and long gallops across the Wellington International Arena, they were equally as impressive, scoring a 93.5 for a 187.5 total.
“Before I went in for the second round, I knew there were a lot of good rounds before me,” said French, who is originally from California and now bases in Wellington, Florida. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to make that inside turn to the second to last jump because Milagro isn’t always that easy to steer. I saw everybody was doing so well, so I thought I needed to do it.”
MILAGRO joined French’s string about a year ago after French’s business partner, U.S. Olympic show jumper Kent Farrington, found the horse in Europe.
Upon arriving stateside, French showed the now 8-year-old Hanoverian gelding only twice in smaller divisions before moving him straight up to the High Performance classes.
“He’s a very relaxed horse,” said French. “He’s my favorite horse to get on first when I get to the barn at 7:30 in the morning for that reason. I mostly ride him on the track and out on the field, and it’s wonderful to have a horse like that. I wasn’t sure what the judges would think tonight, but I was really happy with him.”
Second place went to 2022 USHJA WCHR Central Hunter Spectacular winner Augusta Iwasaki, of Calabasas, Calif., riding in only her third competition as an Amateur, having graduated from the Junior ranks after the 2022 season.
She rode Small Love to a two-round total of 184.49.
“I thought she jumped really beautifully throughout the whole course and even better in the second round than she did in the first round,” said Iwasaki. “I was really happy with how she trotted after the vertical because I thought that could be a little difficult, but she was really good.”
Winner of the WCHR Professional Final and the USHJA WCHR West Coast Hunter Spectacular in 2022, Nick Haness was third on Queen Celeste with scores of 90.33 and 90.08 for a two-round total of 180.41.
“I’m super proud to be here and representing the West Coast,” said Haness, of Temecula, Calif. “Making an effort to be here for this class is important, because the best of the best are here this week to compete. The atmosphere brings out the best in the horses. I think Queen Celeste came out tonight and knew it was a special event. She feels it, and she was just really phenomenal tonight.”
“We don’t have to go to a lot of shows; we just pick WCHR shows and work towards that,” said French. “It used to be people going for points, but now people want to go for WCHR shows because they are the best shows and the best run and give the best to the horses and the owners.”
“You really notice the difference in the trainers and riders and how they prepare the horses for the main events to try to show your horse at the best it can go,” said Haness.
“It’s a very nice opportunity for really great division horses,” Iwasaki said. “There are a lot of derbies that you can take your derby horses to, but there are not a lot of classes like this where you can really showcase your division horses.”
Riders earning champion or reserve champion in the 3'6" and higher rated WCHR hunter sections qualified for the Spectacular, with additional riders qualifying based on the section's overall results if qualified riders chose not to compete or were pre-qualified.
In addition, riders also qualified based on their 2022 standings in the WCHR national awards programs.
The class was scored by three panels of two judges, including Chris Wynne and T Whitehead; Mark Jungherr and Tom Brennan; and Mary Lisa Leffler and Mary Eufemia. The 12 top-scoring horse-and-rider combinations then returned for a second round.
