The first two-star win for horse and rider comes with a great bonus.

Ralph Holstein couldn’t stop smiling after he and his partner, Franklin, jumped a double-clear show jumping round to win the Colebrooke Cup CCI** and a $10,000 check at the Florida Festival Of The Horse in Ocala, Fla., on April 16-19.

Everyone loves an underdog story, and The Gentleman Pirate and Kelsey Briggs certainly proved that it doesn’t necessarily cost a lot of money to win big.

“I got him off the track about 21⁄2 years ago up in Ohio,” said Briggs. “I paid $600. It’s turned out to be quite a steal!

He was sort of a big gangly young horse when I took him home, but he’s really grown into himself quite nicely. He has tremendous heart, and he’s really made me love the sport again.”

Lisa Marie Fergusson’s mount jumps to the top of the CCI** to cap off a year of rebuilding.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Lisa Marie Fergusson, but she ended on a high note with a dressage-score win in the Florida CCI** at the Florida Horse Park in Ocala. The Langley, B.C., rider led the victory gallop on her advanced mount Uni Griffon the weekend of Nov. 14-16.

• Florida’s field of 17 CCI** horses was disappointingly small compared to the 73 in the inaugural division at Fair Hill (Md.) in October, prompting the question of whether the East Coast needs two fall three-days. “The Florida Horse Park really stepped up last year when Radnor (Pa.) wasn’t able to continue their two-star, and they filled a huge void in the calendar and need to be commended for that,” said Karen O’Connor, who sits on the Park’s board. “I do think the two-star at Fair Hill will continue to be more popular.