Robert J. Burke’s decision to give By Appointment Only last year off to mature paid dividends at this year’s Upperville Colt & Horse Show, Upperville, Va., where the classy bay took home the best young horse title.

“He walked in and showed himself like a horse is supposed to,” said Burke of the Meadow Bluffs Farm entry. By Appointment Only (Ring Of Honor–Kilo’s Fancy) also picked his way through the muddy footing of the main hunter ring on June 13 to win the non-Thoroughbred 2-year-old colts and geldings class and the non-Thoroughbred breeding championship, under the watchful eye of judge Brian D. Lenehan. Burke credited the beautifully mannered young horse’s classic look for the victory before a sparse crowd peppering the arena rail.

“There is nothing flashy about him, but if you look him all over he’s a lovely individual,” he said. The win on the cool, blustery morning was also special for Burke because the young horse was bred and raised by Elizabeth Busch Burke of Meadow Bluffs. “You don’t often get one like this, a homebred,” he said. But Burke knew early on that he had a winner in the horse.

“You could tell when he was a weanling, if everything stayed in place he was going to be a pretty nice horse. And, luckily, it did,” he said. Upperville was just the second outing of the year for By Appointment Only, who also took home the best young horse honors at Keswick Hunt Club, Keswick, Va., May 19-23. He will now likely stay on the farm until this fall before making another horse show appearance, said Burke. “We don’t go chasing points,” he said. “We just like to go to the big ones.”

Winning Career Underway
Making the five-hour trip from Chesapeake, Va., to Upperville in the horse trailer to keep an eye on foal Underway was well worth it for Barbara Edwards when the adorable filly won the non-Thoroughbred foal class. Upperville was “Sophie’s” first time off the farm. She took the showing in stride, standing quietly in front of the venerable Upperville grandstand.

The flashy chestnut, handled by Josh Cardine, is the first product of Alkatop and a Secretariat granddaughter, both owned and shown by Edwards. The “all in the family” story began when Edwards imported Alkatop, by Alcatraz, from Europe four years ago to be her amateur horse. “I didn’t really think I needed a stallion so I collected a bunch of semen. This is my first experiment using the frozen semen,” she said. “I think that the first product is kind of nice!”

Edwards currently shows Alkatop, now a gelding, in the adult amateur hunters and plans to move up to the amateur-owners in the near future. “We are expecting big things out of him too,” she said. Edwards bought the Thoroughbred mare (Casual State, Secretary Of State) as a project horse and showed her in the adult hunters before deciding to breed her to Alkatop. She juggles the small breeding program on her five-acre farm with her career as a pharmacist and husband of 19 years, Gary Edwards’ U.S. Navy deployments.

“I am definitely an amateur doing all of this,” she said. Underway came by her name through this hectic schedule. Because she was conceived while Gary was underway on a Navy deployment in the Mediterranean for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and it was a “U” year for naming registered Holsteiners, they decided to call the filly Underway.

Fishing For Victories
Kara Selby’s Gold Fish broke a string of second-placed finishes over the past couple of years when he claimed the blue in the non-Thoroughbred 3-year-old colts or geldings class. Selby, Richmond, Va., was thrilled with the victory for the All The Gold son, a bay with no white markings.

“I have been second the entire last year and all this year so it was a huge deal to win,” she said. “I have been waiting forever. I’m so excited. I have just done every single thing myself.” But Gold Fish, shown by “Junior” Dowell Johnson at Upperville, did have some impressive accolades on his resume before he entered the oak-shaded ring. He was the 2003 American Hanoverian Breeding Society champion. It was technology that brought Selby and Gold Fish together 1