Last Updated on September 7, 2025 by adminahb
Photo: Kent Farrington and Grass de Mars.
The final day of international show jumping on Saturday, September 6, 2025, during HITS Hudson Valley VIII at HITS Hudson Valley in Saugerties, New York, put the exclamation mark on a standout season with the $125,000 Core Specialty Insurance CSI3* Grand Prix. The highlight event was part of the positively stacked Championship Week at the world-class venue, boasting an FEI CSI3* division as well as a World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) designation. With exhibitors and spectators gathered around the Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Stadium, it was once again the world number one, Kent Farrington (USA), and Grass de Mars that claimed the blue-ribbon honors to lead the victory gallop.
Alan Wade’s (IRL) grand prix track gave a full tour of the arena for the 35 horse-and-rider combinations on the start list, including a tricky vertical-oxer-vertical triple combination and a triple bar five-stride line to a delicate vertical. It took 10 rounds until Daniel Bluman (ISR) delivered the first clear performance with Kapitaal L, a 10-year-old KWPN mare (Cornet Obolensky x Comme D Api vd Hacienda) he owns with Over the Top Stables LLC. He was then joined by Farrington with Grass de Mars, Nayel Nassar (EGY) with Ivory TCS, Luis Larrazabal (VEN) with Jon Snow, and Philip McGuane (IRL) with Orphea HQ to make five for the jump-off.
“You’ve got a top course builder today in Alan Wade, so the course sort of separated the field,” explained Farrington. “In the Welcome on Thursday, he had many clear rounds, so today he knew that even though this is a three-star, the caliber of horses and riders that are here is very strong. He built a proper course, and there were not so many clear. That’s usually the sign of a well-built course is that the entire course can have faults all over the place with different strengths and weaknesses depending on the horse.”
John French and Incognito Capture Victory in $40k USHJA International Hunter Derby during WCHR Week
Hudson Valley VIII, the final week of the 2025 HITS Hudson Valley Summer Series, marked a truly grand finale on the summer calendar with its designation as a World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) event. Held at the HITS showgrounds in Saugerties, New York, the week featured a full schedule of elite hunter classes and drew top riders from across the country.
One of the highlights was the $40,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by Great American Insurance Group, held Saturday, September 6. John French and Incognito delivered a standout performance to take the win. Meanwhile, in the $20,000 USHJA Open National Hunter Derby, Laena Romond was victorious aboard Forsini in Section A, while Tori Colvin rode Gabriel to the top of Section B. In the $20,000 Junior USHJA National Hunter Derby, Adriana Forte rode to the blue ribbon with Blue Symphony, and Augusta Iwasaki claimed the win in the $20,000 Amateur National Hunter Derby with Small Love.
“He actually wasn’t supposed to come this week, but then I thought this is a big-money class, and he won a derby here last year,” recounted French. “I called the owners and said we should send him. He only arrived a few days ago, so I gave him a jumper class to warm up, and he was fantastic today.”
For more information, visit HitsShows.com.