BRIDGEHAMPTON, N.Y.--Rene Dittmer of Germany on Burlington Riverland won the $39,000, 5* Speed Stake at the Hampton Classic Horse Showon Thursday, Aug. 31.
Rene Dittmer on Burlington Riverland (Photo by KindMedia)In the hunter ring, Nick Haness swept the top three places in the Hunter Classic.
Dittmer won over the 63 entries representing 15 countries that competed over Alan Wade’s 15 fence course, finishing clean in the fastest time of 31.18 seconds.
Darragh Kenny of Ireland on Eddy Blue moved into the lead towards the end of the class,, finishing in 31.95 seconds, but Dittmar on his second horse was still to go.
“I didn’t see Darragh’s round at all, actually,” said Dittmer. “But I knew I was about one second slower on my first horse, Corsica X. With Corsica, I rode eight strides to the first line in the first phase, but I set up better on Burlington to ride seven strides there and cut some turns a bit shorter. That was lucky enough to win in the end.”
Kenny on Eddy Blue finished second in 31.95 seconds, and Kelli Cruciotti Vanderveen finished third and fourth respectively on Forever SFN , clean in 32.45, and Isabella Van De Zuuthoeve, clean in 32.63.
EARLIER in the day, 83 starters representing 14 countries competed in the $10,000 2* Open Jumper.
Nick Haness on Caristo (Photo by KindMedia)Aaron Vale set an early time to beat on I.Adermie R 4. of 30.48, a time that held up through the class for the win.
“My mare is a pretty quick horse, and it was a suitable track just to cut some corners and let her open up,” Vale said. “We’ve had some nice results at the Hampton Classic in the past. There were a lot of horses entered today, but our time held up for the win. It was a great way to start the week, and we hope to get some more going into the weekend – maybe even something in the Grand Prix on Sunday, with a little luck.”
TJ O’Mara finished second on Kassiodam, clean in 31.19 seconds, and Kenny on Serendepety was third in 31.49 seconds.
Cruciotti Vanderveen’s consistent placings have helped her take the lead in the $30,000 Rider Challenge with 215 points.
Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil is not far behind, second with 206 points, and Kenny is third with 127 points.
The Challenge, which awards $30,000 to the rider accumulating the most points in the week’s Open Jumper classes, will be awarded Sunday following the $425,000 Hampton Classic 5* Grand Prix.
Nick Haness of Temecula, Calif., swept the podium with his three mounts, Caristo, Queen Celeste and Private Practice over 21 competitors in the new $25,000 Hunter Classic.
Scoring 187 points over the Classic’s two-round test, Haness placed first on Caristo, second on Queen Celeste with186 points, and third on Private Practice with 180 points.
“It was pretty exciting to ride Caristo and the others in this class,” Haness said. “It was a beautiful and fun day for a hunter classic. Riding around the ring here is always special. I think any time you have a successful ride is a good day, and to ride out with a 96 (in the first round) is super exciting.
“Caristo is a new ride for me and just an exceptional horse,” he said. “I think the atmosphere was fun with everyone watching as well as a bit of a challenge with the shadows coming out this afternoon. Going into the second round on a 96 added a little pressure, but I just focused on putting in a nice, consistent round to pull off a second nice score and ultimately the win.”
Private Practice also won the Performance Hunter 3’3” Section A Championship, while Queen Celeste was champion in the Performance 3’6” Hunter division.
“Queen Celeste is an amazing horse,” Haness said. “I’ve never shown her on grass before. It was a new element for us, and I think it made her jump that much better. She was great in the Hunter Classic, coming in especially sharp for the second round knowing we had to catch her barnmate’s score. She really came in this week and gave me every ounce of her heart, jumping phenomenally well.”
