Keirstin Scott Sweeps Top Three Places in $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby at Saratoga Classic I
Keirstin Scott made it a day to remember on Friday, June 14, 2024, at the Saratoga Classic I Horse Show at White Hollow Farm when she took the top three spots in the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby out of a field of 29 competitors. The Saratoga Classic I continues through Sunday, June 16, with World Championship Hunter Rider competition, while the Saratoga Classic II Horse Show will run the following week on June 19-23.
Scott piloted Aster de la Cense, owned by Kimberly Witherspoon, to victory in the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby. They finished the first round in second place with a base score of 88 plus four bonus points. Scott led the first round with Copper Canyon, owned by Adele Einhorn, who had an overall score of 94 after going first in the class. Scott and MTM Promises Fulfilled, owned by Denise Di Nozzi, sat in fourth place with a first-round score of 88.
In the second handy round, the top 12 returned, and Scott went first on MTM Promises Fulfilled to space out her three rides in the second round. They put down an incredible handy trip and were rewarded with an overall score of 93 for a total of 181, which would hold up for third place.
“He’s my handy horse,” confirmed Scott of the 14-year-old Westphalian gelding by Balou du Rouet. “He’s really brave, and he’ll go through any gap. He’s definitely the horse that you want to be going all in for the handy. It’s almost more fun to not be on top, because then I don’t second guess. We focus on the national derbies with him because it seems to be the place he shines.”
With Copper Canyon, Scott had a second-round score of 87.5 and a total of 181.5, just squeaking past for second place.
The seven-year-old Zangersheide gelding by Irish Wiskey Z took home two firsts, along with second and third places, in USHJA National Hunter Derbies this winter at World Equestrian Center – Ocala with rider Jenny Jones, but this was the first time that Scott has competed with him.
“He is really, really fun to ride,” said Scott. “He’s so scopey and jumps so high. I think if I had known him a little better, I could have navigated him in the handy in the one gap, but otherwise he’s a really special horse. It was nice to have the opportunity to ride him.”
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For more information on the Saratoga Horse Shows, visit www.saratogahorseshows.com.
