Towell and Miracle Triumph in Junior/Amateur-Owner Championship

Wellington, FL- December 3, 2005- Consistency was key to be one of the top twelve hunters at the 122nd National Horse Show and Family Festival, but it also took a brilliant last round to pull off the win. Luckily, Rio Renoir and rider Holly Orlando had both. They were smooth throughout five rounds of competition spread over three days to win the National Horse Show Open Hunter Championship. The 122nd National Horse Show and Family Festival finishes competition tomorrow with the highlight, the Budweiser AGA Championships, presented by Chesapeake Petroleum, at 2 p.m.

Today, the focus of the horse show was on the hunters. The first phase of the competition took place on Wednesday and Thursday during the horses’ respective divisions. Their scores from the three over fences rounds were averaged together for the “Phase One” score. The twelve horses throughout all five divisions- First Year, Second Year, Green Conformation, Regular Conformation, and W.B. Redfern Regular Working- with the highest Phase One averages were asked to return today for their fourth and fifth rounds. The fourth and fifth round scores were then averaged for a “Phase Two” score. The two phase scores were added for a total that determined the winner.

“Rio”, owned by Why Wait Farm and Cynthia and Thomas Deibert of Wellington, Florida, is a 6 year old Canadian Sporthorse by Rio Grande. He and fellow Wellington resident Orlando came into today’s competition with a Phase One score of 83.5. In the first round today, they had a high score of 89.5. Scott Stewart, who rode six horses in the class, led the first round today with an impressive score of 90.916 on Alexandra Stathis’ Truly.

In the second round, horses competed again over a long, flowing course on the grass field of the Internationale Arena. Last to show, Rio and Orlando set a metronome pace and stayed with it for the entire course. They were chasing Stewart and Fellini, owned by Molly Ohrstrom, who had a second round score of 87.16, a Phase Two score of 87.08, and a total of 171.638. Rio rose to the challenge, and the judges rewarded him with a score of 88.75 in the second round. This gave them the Phase Two average score of 89.13 and a total of 172.624.

The win was sweet for Orlando, who won this same class twice with the famous horse Overdressed when the National Horse Show was in New York. “It’s Overdressed’s class, so it means a lot,” she said. Orlando knew that she would not be able to keep track of the complicated scoring system for the class, so she figured she “wouldn’t worry about it.” “My horse is very trustworthy, so I knew he would pull through for us,” she explained, adding with a laugh, “It was past my mathematical abilities!”

The plan with Rio has worked out very well for Orlando and trainer Joe Guzman, who does all of the riding chores outside of the show ring. “Joe does everything, from start to finish. I get on and go in the ring,” Orlando mentioned. Guzman added, “And that’s been working fine! We’re afraid to change it. I get on and do the discipline, and Holly gets on and pats him, so he loves her more than me!”

When asked what they like most about Rio, both answered with a firm, “Everything.” Guzman described, “He’s happy and he’s comfortable and he totally enjoys going to the shows and doing his job. He tries really hard for us, and I totally believe in him. I know when he walks in that he’s going to give it his all.” Orlando explained, “He’s so scopey and athletic. He’s exciting to watch. There’s so much appeal there.”

Coming into the show ring today, Orlando said, “When he walked out there, he was like, ‘Oh, another round…’ But then he saw all of the people and perked up and got a little more into it. I think he rises to the occasion when he goes in the ring. It’s the same no matter where he is, no matter what horse show it is. I don’t think I can say that we had a bad horse show this year. Rio is the most amazing horse.”

Official Results: NHS Open Hunter Championship, Internationale Arena

• 1. Rio Renoir, Holly Orlando, Why Wait Farm/Thomas and Cynthia Deibert: 172.624
• 2. Fellini, Scott Stewart, Molly Ohrstrom: 171.638
• 3. Truly, Scott Stewart, Alexandra Stathis: 170.624
• 4. Up To Date, Scott Stewart, Richard Prant: 169.916
• 5. Independence, Sandy Ferrell, Kimberly Dunn: 169.707
• 6. Music Street, Scott Stewart, Alexa Weisman: 168.637
• 7. C.C. Bloom, Rob Bielefeld, Samantha Hallman: 165.721
• 8. Pharrell, Aaron Vale, Euri Uchiyama: 164.068
• 9. Eldridge T, Kelley Farmer, Larry Glefke: 160.596
• 10. Dynamic, Scott Stewart, Fashion Farm: 150.444
• 11. Espresso, Sandy Ferrell, Alexa Weisman: 149.485
• 12. Cool Blue, Scott Stewart, Alexandra Stathis: 145.930

The NHS Junior/Amateur-Owner Hunter Championship was scored under the same rules as the Open Hunter Championship. The leader going into Phase Two was the Grand Junior Hunter Champion, Miracle. Owned by Christy Russo of Miami, Florida and ridden by Jack Hardin Towell Jr. of Camden, South Carolina, Miracle had a Phase One score of 88.89.

Towell never rode Miracle before Thursday, but the partnership was fully cemented by the time the Championship rolled around. “She was very easy to ride right away,” he noted. In today’s class, he mentioned, “She tried hard today, but was a little tired, so she wasn’t as crisp as yesterday.” Miracle scored 85 in the first round.

In the second round, the ones to beat were Tribute and Krista Weisman. One judge gave them a high score of 98, and their last round average was 92.6. When averaged with the first round and added to the Phase One score, they finished with a 170.52. Towell and Miracle needed a very good round to win, and luckily Miracle provided it.

She finished with a last round score of 87.5, and her eventual total came to 175.13, which gave her the victory. “She goes in there to please,” said Towell. The win was a great finish to a successful year for Towell. “It was nice to show different hunters than the ones I have, and to win on them is a big bonus,” he concluded. “Hopefully I can do this well next year, my last junior year.”

Official Results: NHS Junior/Amateur-Owner Hunter Championship, Internationale Arena

• 1. Miracle, Jack Hardin Towell Jr., Christy Russo: 175.138
• 2. Tribute, Krista Weisman: 170.526
• 3. Saloon, Jennifer Waxman, Whitney Roper: 168.499
• 4. Davis Cup, Alexandra Stathis: 165.193
• 5. Roundabout, Morgan Trexler, Windswept, Inc.: 161.666
• 6. Quidam, Tatiana Dzavik, Sarah B. Willeman: 160.054
• 7. High Cotton, Jack Hardin Towell Jr., Christy Russo: 159.748
• 8. Lyle, Jane Ehrhart, Mrs. Randolph Rinehart: 155.860
• 9. Chopard, Krista Weisman: 150.916
• 10. Fancy That, Maggie McAlary, Whitney Roper: 150.527
• 11. Damiro, Sara Benach: 140.193
• 12. Private Ryan, Tracy Scheriff: 131.499

Photo Credit: Rio Renoir and Holly Orlando, winners of the National Horse Show Open Hunter Championship at the 122nd National Horse Show and Family Festival. Photo by Randi Muster.