Kenny Wheeler has won many championships throughout his decades showing horses, but none may have been as special as winning the National Hunter Breeding championship named in honor of his late wife, Sallie B. Wheeler.

“That means an awful lot to me. She was so smart. She didn’t know how to train, but she sure could pick them out. She had a great eye for a horse,” Wheeler said.

On Sept. 2 at the Warrenton Horse Show in Warrenton, Va., Wheeler’s Spanish Spear (Czar�Karacter Kount) walked away with the Best Young Horse title. This win added to the 2-year-old colt’s impressive resume which includes back-to-back Best Young Horse wins at the Devon Horse Show (Pa.).

“He showed just as well as he did at Devon. He’s pretty easy, just give him a little longe and he’ll show great. He grew up tall and this year he really filled out great. In fact, he got a little fat, but he’s big for a 2-year-old. Mike Rooks really did a great job getting him ready,” said Wheeler.

Ray Francis bred Spanish Spear and sent Wheeler a photo of the foal when he was just two months old. Wheeler liked him enough to buy him sight unseen. “We’re lucky that he turned out this good,” said Wheeler. Spanish Spear is co-owned by Wheeler’s daughter and her husband, as well as Cismont Manor Farm.

The flashy chestnut colt also won the other than Thoroughbred 2-year-old colts and geldings class.

“There was a really strong group of 2-year-olds. There was a lot of major competition in those classes,” said Linda Andrisani, one of the judges.

Andrisani noted that the chestnut colt was on top of his game during the whole event. “He never stopped posing; he was a show horse the entire time,” she said.

Wheeler and Spanish Spear are headed to the International Hunter Futurity finals in Kentucky later this month, and then plan to progress with his under-saddle training. “This winter we’ll take him over some jumps and see how he does,” said Wheeler.

Moses In Second
Judges Andrisani and Michael Elmore flew from California–where they judged the West Coast phase of the competition three days before–to Virginia to cover the East Coast phase. In the unique format, they judged the horses competing in the two parts of the country against each other, making it a true national championship. Andrisani said that hunter breeding has grown tremendously in the west and while she thinks that the format of the championship is fine, she wishes there were fewer days in between the two shows.

“I like to keep the momentum going!” she said. Also, Andrisani said that she hopes that sometime in the future there will be a central location added to the championships, so that everyone in the country can participate, not just those willing to travel to the east or west coast.

Just behind Spanish Spear in the best young horse judging for the second time was Moses (Aaron’s Gold�Golden Lolly), bred by Molly Lippencott of Warrenton, Va., handled by Matt Collins of Culpeper, Va. and owned by The Mane Farm. Moses was also reserve Best Young Horse at Devon, again placing second to the unbeatable Spanish Spear.

The dark bay 2-year-old Thoroughbred colt also won the Thoroughbred/unregistered Thoroughbred 2-year-old colts and geldings class at Warrenton. This victory helped him earn the Thoroughbred/unregistered Thoroughbred championship. “He looked very Thoroughbred; he had great feet and a great hind end,” Andrisani said.

The judges were very pleased with their choice for the winners. “Both of these 2-year-olds are excellent quality horses, they can go in any direction at any time,” said Andrisani.

A Meaningful Win
The West Coast phase was held at the Showpark All Seasons Summer Tournament on Aug. 30. All The Best (Just The Best�Inetta), a fancy-moving bay colt owned by Tish Quirk, won the West Coast phase.

The Dutch Warmblood yearling is a third generation colt from Quirk’s breeding program in southern California. “I own his sire, Just The Best, and I also owned his sire’s sire, Best Of Luck. In 2003, his full sister, Just In Time, was national hunter breeding champion in the Performance Horse Registry. She won hunter futurities and hunter breeding every time she showed,” she said. Just In Time finished third in the 2003 national yearling hunter breeding standings.

Quirk imported All The Best’s dam, Inetta, from Holland as a 3-year-old. The mare was top Dutch star in North America and also scored the highest IBOP, a riding and conformation test, in North America as a 5-year-old. Hap Hansen later rode her in the jumpers with great success.

Quirk is very pleased with All The Best and is quick to point out that he is not a one-time fluke, but instead his wonderful temperament and stunning conformation come from years of careful selection and breeding. “His overall conformation is exceptional. All of his parts are exactly the way I want them. Plus, he’s just got that special spark; he’s exactly what we’ve been looking for,” she said.

“It’s so thrilling to win with a homebred, because I’ve been doing the crosses and making the improvements. The night he was born, I felt like he was special and he might be our future. This colt has such a great presence,” said Quirk.

“He was a really nice yearling. He was put together very nice and was an excellent mover. He really showed off well,” said Elmore.

Andrisani agreed. “He showed himself every time. He posed and jogged beautifully. He definitely rose to the occasion; he said ‘today’s my day!’ ” she said.

Handled throughout the day by Carleton Brooks, All The Best also won the yearling colts/geldings class. “Carleton Brooks is a master at this, this was the first time he’d shown All The Best, and he put the finishing touches on him that only a true showman can do,” said Quirk.

Quirk also played an important role in creating the West Coast phase of the Sallie B. Wheeler Championship, which was held in Warrenton for its first five years and became bicoastal last year. “Matt Collins and I worked very hard to make this a bicoastal event. The long-term goal is to increase quality hunter breeding in America. We need to showcase what American breeding will produce. America should be very proud of the horses we’re breeding,” Quirk said.

Sallie B. Wheeler was also a friend of Quirk’s, which made winning the West Coast phase all the more special for Quirk. “When I first started out as a young breeder, Sallie was so very supportive and really helped me in my beginnings,” said Quirk.

And as for All The Best’s future, Quirk is trying not to get ahead of herself. “I plan to hold my breath for the next six years. It’s a long way to the breeding shed, and he has to earn every step of the way,” she said.

All The Best’s sire, Just The Best, also owned by Quirk, was the leading sire on the West Coast for the Sallie B. Wheeler Championship.

Last year’s winner of the championship, the 3-year-old Pikcasso (Pikadero�Miss Kilkee), owned by Barbara J. Dunning, took the reserve best young horse title in the West Coast phase of the championship.

Emily Daily