WELLINGTON, Fla.--Nick Haness of Temecula, Calif., on McQueen won the $100,000 WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular on Saturday evening, Feb. 17 at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
Nick Haness on McQueen ((Photo by Sportfot)Andy Christiansen of Ecuador designed the two-round class that had a classic first round and then a handy course.
The panel one judges consisted of Mark Jungherr and Mary Eufemia, panel two was Chris Wynne and Shane George, and panel three was Mary Lisa Leffler and Wendy Peralta.
Competitors in the ‘Saturday Night Lights’ class qualified by winning the champion title in their respective divisions at the 3’6” height or above.
From a 33-horse field at 3’6”, 3’9” and 4’ heights, 12 returned for the handy round.
Haness on McQueen had a first round score just shy of the 90 mark, but returned for the handy to score 93 for a two round average of 91.81.
THE WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular is the highlight of WCHR Week at Wellington International each year and is a title that eluded Haness until this week.
"To win this class for me is very emotional and very exciting. I had a lot of support around the country watching the live stream. My mom was watching which brought me to tears after the class,” said Haness, who collected five champion titles during WEF 6. “McQueen has been a horse the last year that's been a strong partnership with me, and I'm thrilled to add this to his list of amazing accomplishments.
“This year’s course was very ‘hunter-friendly’, so the judges could really judge the horses,” said Haness. “It wasn't trappy or tricky or hard, it was a nice flowing course where we could showcase our horses in the best way.”
Haness continues to split his winter season between California and Florida, and this week McQueen did the same.
After flying to Florida from Southern California last week, McQueen was Reserve Champion in the High Performance Conformation before winning the Spectacular.
“Honestly, the two of us are kind of jet lagged together,” said Haness.
For Haness, the atmosphere in the International Arena played a big part.
“As a rider, to feel this vibe, it's buzzing, the turnout was great, it makes you feel like your dreams are coming true," he said. "You watch the movies, you watch the Olympics and you see those stands so full. For the hunter sport, it's so important that we have that same experience.”
Riding a horse normally ridden by Haness, Kate Conover of Ocala, Fla., on Queen Celeste was second with a two-round average of 90.78.
Conover took over the rider duties for the feature class on Queen Celeste after Haness rode the 13-year-old Holsteiner mare to a championship in the 3’6” Performance Division during the week.
“I’m Queen Celeste’s backup quarterback,” said Conover. “I've shown her a few other times and her owners were gracious enough to let me ride her tonight. It was a huge opportunity to reunite with Queen because she's a dream come true for me to get the chance to ride. She has such a big heart. She was tired in this last round, but as soon as I put my leg on her first jump, she was on it. She fights to make every jump spectacular, and you can depend on her.”
Conover was pre-qualified for the evening’s class, which took some pressure off.
“This is the first time I've come here where I didn't have to qualify," she said. "It gave me a different kind of pressure during the week. There's no other atmosphere than riding in this ring with this many people for us as hunter riders.”
John French of Wellington on the 2023 National Horse of the Year, Paradigm, was third on a two-round average of 89.75.
“He keeps doing more and more and impressing all the time,” said French of his mount. “He came along so quick right out of the jumper ring after coming over from Europe. He's not a horse that needs to get in the ring all the time; you can pull him out for the big class and he's super brave.”
Paradigm was the horse that helped French recuperate from a broken leg that led to a hip replacement almost two years ago.
“He was the only horse I wanted to ride because of how comfortable his canter is,"said French. "He’s methodical, so even if you're kind of nervous, you just sit down and he relaxes you.”
Saturday evening had one of the biggest crowds WCHR Week has recently seen.
“I've never seen so many people here before ever,” said French. “It's a super special class under the lights in this big ring, and It's so nice when we get a chance to experience that.”
