McQueen, the  Chronicle’s 2023 Show Hunter Horse of the Year, added yet another jewel to his crown Saturday night by winning the $100,000 WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular. The victory was the first for rider Nick Haness of Temecula, California, in the headline event of the Winter Equestrian Festival’s World Championship Hunter Rider Week at Wellington International (Florida).  

Entries for the “Saturday Night Lights” class qualified by winning the champion title in their respective divisions at the 3’6” height or above. From a 35-horse field of the country’s best hunter combinations at 3’6”, 3’9” and 4’ heights, 12 returned for the handy round. Haness and McQueen, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Cornet Obolensky—Sanea) owned by Walkenbach Equestrian, LLC, posted a first round score just shy of the 90 mark, but returned for the handy and impressed the judges to earn a 92.66. Their two-round average of 91.20 clinched the leader’s spot in the victory gallop.

“To win this class for me is very emotional and very exciting,” said Haness, who collected five champion titles during Week 6 of WEF. “I had a lot of support around the country watching the livestream—my mom was watching, which brought me to tears after the class.” 

“McQueen has been a horse the last year that’s been a strong partnership with me,” he added, “and I’m thrilled to add this to his list of amazing accomplishments.”

Andy Christiansen of Ecuador designed the two-round class that allowed riders to show off their horses over a classic first round and then a handy track. There were three panels of judges, which included Mark Jungherr, Mary Eufemia, Chris Wynne, Shane George, Mary Lisa Leffler and Wendy Peralta. 

Watch their first round, courtesy of ShowGroundsLive.com:

Watch their second round, courtesy of ShowGroundsLive.com:

“This year’s course was very hunter-friendly, so the judges could really judge the horses,” Haness said. “It wasn’t trappy or tricky or hard. It was a nice flowing course where we could showcase our horses in the best way.”

Haness is splitting his winter season between California and Florida, and this week McQueen did the same. After flying to Florida from Southern California last week, McQueen took reserve champion in the high performance conformation division (behind California Love and Scott Stewart) before winning the Spectacular.

“Honestly, the two of us are kind of jet-lagged together,” Haness said with a laugh. 

The jet lag didn’t show as Haness and McQueen rode to the top of the class. For Haness, the atmosphere in the International Arena played a big part.  

“As a rider, to feel this vibe; it’s buzzing, the turnout was great, it makes you feel like your dreams are coming true,” he said. “You watch the movies, you watch the Olympics and you see those stands so full. For the hunter sport, it’s so important that we have that same experience.”

Adding to the buzz of Haness’ weekend, second place in the showcase class went to Queen Celeste, another horse he normally rides. Kate Conover of Ocala, Florida, piloted the 13-year-old Holsteiner mare (Cassini I—Sammy Joe) owned by Glade Run Farm, LLC, to second with a two-round average of 90.16. Conover took over the rider duties for the feature class after Haness piloted the mare to a tricolor in the 3’6” performance division during the week.

“I’m Queen Celeste’s backup quarterback,” Conover joked. “I’ve shown her a few other times, and her owners were gracious enough to let me ride her tonight. It was a huge opportunity to reunite with ‘Queen’ because she’s a dream come true for me to get the chance to ride. She has such a big heart. She was tired in this last round, but as soon as I put my leg on her first jump, she was on it. She fights to make every jump spectacular, and you can depend on her.”

Taking third place was Paradigm, the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s National Horse of the Year, piloted by John French of Wellington, Florida.

See full results here.

Editor’s note: Some individual round scores initially were reported incorrectly. Those scores have been updated.