Hunter derby horses were the stars of the show on Friday, June 12, 2026, at the Saratoga Classic I Horse Show at White Hollow Farm in Stillwater, NY. Amateur rider Grace Shipman of Cooperstown, NY, rode her own Calamanzo to victory in the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, while Jean Sheptoff of Littleton, MA, and Let’s Wait and See HX, owned by Redfield Farm, jumped to the top of the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby.

Photo – Let’s Wait and See HX moved from the jumpers to the hunters with Jean Sheptoff and scored the win in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby victory.
(Jess Windhurst Photography)

Sheptoff and Let’s Wait and See HX received scores of 173 and 184 to win with a total score of 357, more than 11 points above the second-place finishers, Adriana Forte and Ducat RW, owned by Gowe Farms, who received 161 and 184.5 for a 345.5 total. Third place went to Soane, ridden by Merry Harding for Natalia McCarthy, who scored 171 and 169 for a total of 340.

Sheptoff started riding “Lewis” at the end of the summer in 2025 in jumper classes, but decided to move him to the hunter ring for the 2026 winter circuit. It has proved successful, as they went on to several High Performance Hunter championships at the Winter Equestrian Festival. This was only their second USHJA International Hunter Derby and first win.

“He’s very scopey and has all the stride,” said Sheptoff of the 10-year-old KWPN gelding (Entertainer x Colman). “He has settled into the job and loves it, and he is really getting his confidence up. He’s got so much quality.

“The handy is no issue,” she continued. “That’s really his specialty, because he’s so nice and light in his mouth, so you can kind of float the reins, gallop the jumps, and still turn. Having the jumper background is really to our advantage.”

Sheptoff and her husband, professional rider and trainer Cory Hardy, own Newbury Farm, where all of their horses at kept “at home,” and she grooms her horses herself.

“He’s so sweet in the barn,” she described. “I have a bond with him, and he’s just a really nice, nice horse. I’m lucky to have him.”

What to Know About Let’s Wait and See HX:

Home Routine: Hanging out in his field, flatting in the ring, and trail riding. “I think it’s really good for his brain to trail ride and spend time out in the field. I try to give him downtime and let him just be a horse.”

Quirk: An occasional look around the ring, but never at the jumps.

Starbucks Order: a pup cup to share with his puppy brother

Celebrity Twin: Timothee Chalamet – “He’s really pretty.”

2027 Goal: Competing at the USHJA International Hunter Derby National Championship

Grace Shipman Sails to a Win in the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby

With the leading score of 180.5, Shipman and Calamanzo led the victory gallop over 30 other entries. They improved from 89 in round one to 91.5 in round two. Kimberly Mulligan and TBS Rolls the Dice, owned by Twin Bays Stable LLC, were second with scores of 87 and 91 for a total of 178. With an 88 and 89 for a total of 177, Oakley Clark and Ravioli, owned by Morgan Eisler Bradley, finished in third place.

Shipman has a four-year partnership with “Cal,” her junior equitation horse she rode to victory in the 2023 USHJA 3’3” Jumping Seat Medal Final – East at Capital Challenge Horse Show and top placings in the 3’6” equitation finals. When Shipman left for college at Texas A&M University, they decided to transition Cal to the hunter derbies.

“I’ve always loved the hunters, and I’d always dreamed of having a derby horse,” said Shipman. “We thought we would try it since there is no pressure as an amateur, and he’s older now, so we just bring him out when we think there’s a fun class. He always delivers, so it’s a lot of fun.”

Shipman relies on their experience in the equitation ring when they return for the handy round and knows he is “capable of taking any inside turn and every high option,” she said. “I think that our years in the equation make us really suited for the second round.”

Cal is now 18 years old, so Shipman does not jump him at home and keeps him interested and in shape through trail riding and cantering in the fields. “I’m lucky enough where we keep him in North Salem, New York. We have acres and acres of trails, and he loves to play in the water. Pretty much every other day in the summer, I don’t go near the ring, and I think that really keeps him happy.

“He is truly my horse of a lifetime,” she continued of the Holsteiner gelding (Colman x Caretino). “There will never be another horse like him. He is so reliable; he carried me to two equitation finals wins as a junior, and this is his third open derby win. I know that I can rely on him 100% of the time.”

The Saratoga Classic I Horse Show continues on Saturday, June 13, with the $25,000 Saratoga Grand Prix along with Grand Championships for the Amateur-Owner Hunter divisions.