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.”

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.

• 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.

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.