Romond Repurposes Jumpers for Repeat Derby Win, Copper Canyon Continues Derby Domination, Yzerman Clears $25,000 Saratoga Grand Prix at Saratoga Classic I
Two feature classes were on the schedule on Saturday, June 14, 2025, at the Saratoga Classic I Horse Show. Leading the victory gallop in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby were Laena Romond and Fellow Z, owned by Heritage Farm. As the only double clear in the $25,000 Saratoga Grand Prix, Maria Yzerman and Pepe 348 were victorious. On Friday, June 13, Copper Canyon and Jennifer Jones won the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby presented by Dover Saddlery. Held at White Hollow Farm in Stillwater, NY, the Saratoga Classic I continues through Sunday, June 15, with World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) competition, while the Saratoga Classic II Horse Show will run the following week on June 18-22.
When Laena Romond won the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the 2024 Saratoga Classic I, she accomplished the feat with Little Lord 112, a former international jumper competing in its first hunter derby and third horse show as a hunter. In 2025, Romond repeated the derby win, this time with Fellow Z, a junior jumper competing in its first show as a hunter and with Romond.
“We got him at the beginning of Florida this year. He’s been doing junior jumpers with one of our kids all winter,” explained Romond of the nine-year-old Zangersheide gelding by For Pleasure x Clinton, “and she’s traveling for the summer, so we thought he could have a career change for a moment and see how he liked the hunters. He likes it!
“He truly has been a jumper until this week,” she continued. “We’ve known with his range, his stride, his scope, his technique, and his brain, that he could excel in any of these rings. He could also for sure win an equitation class. He’s truly a three-ring horse, but not a jack of all trades. He’s like a master of all trades.”
Romond had schooled Fellow Z a handful of times and always wanted to show. “He’s a horse that I’ve watched with other people in the barn, and from the ground, he’s the one that we’re always like, ‘I want to ride that one,’” she recalled, “because he’s so much fun.”
Romond and Fellow Z led the first round with a score of 183. “In the first round, I think the second fence caught a lot of horses off guard, just where it was placed and the way the equipment was used. I would say even my horse noticed that a little bit,” she described. “He was going to jump it, but I think a lot of horses were a little startled to see that jump so early on in the course. He handled it well, and then he got very relaxed as he went.”
Fellow Z returned for the second round and upped his score to 193 for a total of 376 to win by a half point over Sara Taylor and Gambit, owned by Christy Violin, who scored 182 in round one and 193.5 in round two for a 375.5 total. Third place went to On The Bay, ridden by Jennifer Jones for Jennifer Dean. They scored 181 and 190 for a total of 371.
Romond noted that Fellow Z’s good brain translates to the barn as well, and he’s just known as “Fellow.”
“He’s an unflappable character,” she said. “It’s a good name for him. He’s a good fellow.”
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