PrintLiza Boyd’s not the type of rider to leave anything at the in-gate when she trots her derby partner Brunello into the ring for the handy round. So when she lay second heading into the final round of the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Aiken Spring Classic Masters, she put in a round that left no doubt who the winner would be.
“We have a saying around here: Leave it to Liza,” said commentator Danny Robertshaw.
Sure enough, Boyd’s bold second round clinched the top spot on her birth-day weekend, April 20-24, aboard Bru-nello, whom she owns with Janet Peterson.
Not that it was easy. The 23-horse entry list included the likes of Kelley Farmer, who brought a trailer full of top hunters to Aiken, S.C., to vie for a cut of the derby cash. Farmer left with plenty of loot, claiming second (Praise), third (Taken), fourth (Crown N Scepter) and 10th (Bases Loaded).
J.P. Godard kept both courses relatively straightforward, making use of the expansive Derby Field by setting many long broken lines and unrelated distances. Stacked cordwood, fresh foliage and natural fences—such as a picket fence with no standards and split rail verticals over straw bales—gave the course a rustic feel. The highest fence on course, an optional oxer, was set at 4'4".
It was the kind of derby course that judge Kim Dorfman likes to see.
“It lets you be as brilliant as you want to be,” said Dorfman, who officiated with Randy Roy, Scott Fitton and Frank Willard. “It’s a test of the younger generation who were raised counting strides. This way you have to go out there and find your way and jump your way out of it. It’s a great course for making riders.”
The top 12 riders returned over the eight-fence handy round, where Godard incorporated the ring’s three-stride, 18" tabletop bank as an option. Riders could also elect an in-and-out over a pair of gates that Godard described as “commanding.” The course included a trot fence and lots of opportunities to show off with tighter turns around decorations and fences. It finished with a hand gallop over a choice of two oxers headed toward the in-gate.
The bank caused no problems—many riders had practiced it in a warm-up class the day before—but Alise Oken and her veteran amateur-owner partner Take Away chose the in-and-out and suffered a refusal at the first element.
“I tried to make it a real option,” said Godard of the bank.
“If you weren’t going to do the bank, you still had a tough question there. There were options for the green horses and enough places to let the good ones show off.”
Daniel Geitner took advantage of those options on his two greener mounts, then rode Damocles, also owned by Peterson, more boldly to fifth.
Farmer had set the standard in the first round with Larry Glefke’s Crown N Scepter, riding him to the highest mark of the classic round: a 92. Brunello trailed by 5 points heading into the handy round, but Boyd rose to the challenge.
“In the first round I let him get just a little flat, and he rubbed one fence,” said Boyd, Camden, S.C. “I went in for the second round really conscious of keeping him between my hand and my leg, and he really kicked into gear. I was able to get a good gallop early and slip inside a few really tight turns.”
That big gallop sealed the deal for Willard.
“When she marched right in that ring and galloped the 4' to 4' line right to the start in a stride fewer than everyone else, it was hers to lose,” said Willard, Oak Ridge, N.C.
