March 28—Wellington, Fla.

Kelley Farmer and Mindful topped Round 1 of the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby today at the Winter Equestrian Festival. The 2014 Chronicle of the Horse Hunter Horse of the Year earned matching scores of 90 and topped all the high option fences on their way to the top of Round 1. She has a 10-point lead over Say When and Canadian Darcy Hayes, with Tori Colvin riding Heritage Farms’ Vaillero into third.

The class, held in the Eugene Mische R. Hunter Ring, wasn’t without drama. Many spooked seriously at the first fence of the Kenny Krome-designed track, with several riders heading back to the barn early without even jumping one fence. The first fence, a vertical, was set on the diagonal away from the in-gate, with walls on either side of it. Five horses of the original 51 didn’t make it around, with Lillie Keenan hitting the dirt when Troubadour spooked badly before Fence 1, and David Olinyk’s Cascor’s Splendor reared and spun dramatically before there too. 

Farmer fell victim to that fence as well, with So To Speak spooking there and two newer mounts, Symbolic and Joyful, missing the cut for tomorrow’s class.

“Honestly I think the crowd got them,” said Farmer of the first fence. “These horses have jumped in this ring all circuit with no people. The first jump itself was kind of plain and they could look through it. Their focus went right through the jump to the people. Obviously we’re all jumping the same course. It is what it is.”

Farmer’s had a relatively abbreviated season after taking a tumble week 5 when a young horse fell on her, tearing her rotator cuff and suffered a hairline fracture to her sternum. She showed the next week—WCHR week—but admitted she wasn’t at her best. She took a few weeks off from showing, so many of her horses—including Mindful—have had a lighter season than expected. She was thrilled with his performance today.

“When the day’s not going right, and you need someone to pull it out, he’s a class act,” said Farmer, Keswick, Va.

A Different Start List
In the past this class has had a long list of serious derby contenders, and there are a lot of newer faces this year. Two-time winner Jen Alfano is in Katy, Texas, for the Pin Oak circuit, and two-time USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships winner Liza Boyd is in Conyers, Ga., for the Atlanta Spring Classics. Boyd just topped a $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby there on Sterling (a ride she just inherited from Farmer), and Alfano won back-to-back derbies at Pin Oak I and II on Jersey Boy and Miss Lucy, both previous winners in Wellington. Occasional derby contender Scott Stewart’s sitting this year out as well, though he was in Wellington to collect nearly all the open hunter circuit awards at today’s parade.

The top 25 horses qualify for tomorrow’s handy, and the cut-off to advance is a relatively modest total of 148. That translates to a pair of base scores of 74, or, say, base scores of 70 with all four high option jumps.

Looking Ahead
Tomorrow’s handy will be run across the street on the grass field at The Stadium of the Palm Beach Equestrian Center. In the past course designers have made use of that field’s natural obstacles, including the bank, hedge and hill (dubbed “Mount Wellington”). There’s also a grob that was rumored to make an appearence last year, but severe rain forced the handy round to move across the street to the main hunter ring.

While the venue often plays a major role in the class, Farmer isn’t worried. Her horses practice on grass at Lane Change Farm’s two locations in Wellington and Lexington, Ky. She’ll have Mindful, as well as a 7-year-old fresh off the plane from Europe, In Private.

Go behind the stall door with Mindful and the Chronicle‘s Kimberly Loushin. Click here for full results.