Lexington, Ky.—Aug 18

You’ve heard of Ovation, Way Cool, Inclusive and Cuba—and countless others Tori Colvin’s ridden to major wins over her short lifetime. If you haven’t heard of Private Practice, you’re going to want to remember his name.

He first started making headlines during the winter circuit when he won the $50,000 Deeridge Derby (Florida), and since then he’s been fighting to make himself a household name. And after his performance in the Rolex Arena in the handy round of the Platinum Performance USHJA International Hunter Derby, he’s turned any heads that weren’t already been entranced with the chestnut.

“It’s amazing; he was amazing,” Colvin said. “He was fantastic; he jumped around and jumped every jump for me like a 20. He just jumped out of his skin; he really rose to the occasion.”

Tori Colvin became the second rider to win multiple Platinum Performance USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships. This time she topped it on Private Practice. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

For the past several years Liza Boyd has held the distinction of being the only rider to win the USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship more than once. But she can’t say that any longer, as 20-year-old Colvin added her name to the record as a repeat winner, turning in an impressive performance to follow her win in the 2017 championship aboard Cuba.

Colvin guided the 8-year-old gelding to base scores of 95, 96 and 96 in the handy round to move up from second place in the classic. The leaders from the classic round, Holly Shepherd and Tybee, took fourth place after a mistake at the fifth jump, the white planks.

There was no way Private Practice was going to touch a rail as he soared around the course to the win with Tori Colvin riding. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Carleton Brooks, one of six judges scoring the championship rounds, said what set Colvin’s round apart from the rest was quite simple.

“Tori’s horse jumped every fence exactly the same; she never changed pace. That separated her, no question,” Brooks said. “Liza [Boyd]’s horses jumped phenomenal, but Tori never missed a lick; from the moment she walked in the ring it was the Tori Colvin we all know and love.”

Watch Colvin’s ride on Private Practice, courtesy of EQSportsNet:

Boyd looked like she might earn the championship a fourth time—she took second and third to Colvin aboard Clemens and Tradition, respectively—but Colvin’s round was simply in a class of its own. She scored a total of 606, 16.5 points ahead of Clemens, who scored a 589.

“I was so proud of both my horses; they’re both 3’9″ green horses, and they stepped up to the plate tonight,” Boyd said. “I thought the course was amazing. I felt like a bit of a jumper rider. I channeled my old jumper riding days!”

Clemens jumped a phenomenal round with Liza Boyd to take second in his second championship. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

The Alan Lohman-designed handy track proved plenty challenging for horses and riders. The course featured a rather sizeable log trot fence that caught a number of horses off guard—resulting in a number of stops—and a bending one-stride line of split rails that called for clever riding and thinking horses.

“I think the courses are getting more challenging as the derbies have evolved,” Boyd said. This year marks the USHJA’s derby program’s 10th championship. “All the horses really stepped up and jumped it great. I think we’re becoming better riders through this program. It’s making us better and making us excited to get up in the morning and try to do better.”

What a good champion! Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

There was some speculation as to whether any riders would try to bounce Lohman’s split rail in-and-out—the option was technically available depending on where riders chose to jump through it, but all riders chose to do the one-stride option down the middle.

“The bounce was kind of not an option, and then the far side was a bit of a catch-22,” Colvin said. “Because you could get lost and do a three, a lot of things could happen. So I just stuck to the main middle track.”

Tradition might be new to hunter derbies, but he was all class as he jumped to third with Liza Boyd. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

“Today I think you really had to be physical and ride up to the jumps,” Brooks said. “There was a separation between the ones that could really rise to the occasion and the ones who couldn’t; it was great to judge.”

Click here for full results, and check out the Chronicle’s Sept. 3 issue of the magazine for an in-depth look at Colvin’s derby championship win.

You can find all of the Chronicle’s Platinum Performance USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship coverage. Don’t forget to follow the Chronicle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @Chronofhorse

Liza Boyd (mounted) gives her daughter Elle Boyd a quick squeeze as she rides into the ring on Clemens. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Liza Boyd broke out into a grin after her ride on Tradition. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

You know it was a good round when Jack Towell starts hollering. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Holly Shepherd and Tybee were leading after the classic round, but an iffy jump at the white board fence dropped them to fourth overall. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Samantha Schaefer gave In The Know a hug after they finished fifth. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

You’d never guess it was MTM One Time and Dorothy Douglas’ first trip to the Platinum Performance USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships. They finished sixth overall and were the winners of section B as well. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Jimmy Torano finished seventh overall with Exclusive and took home the section B reserve title. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Tracy Fenney piloted MTM Outbid to eighth place in this year’s championship. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Augusta Iwasaki (right) joined her family’s Small Kingdom in the arena to collect his ninth-placed ribbon with Jamie Taylor. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Hannah Isop guided Red Ryder to 10th in the overall standings. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Editorial was ready for his close-up after finishing 11th with Meagan Murray-Tenuta. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Tori Colvin bookended the top 12 by finishing 12th on Gelato. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.