Amanda Derbyshire and Lady Maria BH Best $35,000 1.45m Suncast® Commercial Welcome Stake CSI 2*

Mill Spring, NC – July 13, 2017 – Amanda Derbyshire and Lady Maria BH bested the $35,000 1.45m Suncast® Commercial Welcome Stake CSI 2* at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC), blazing through the short course in just 28.701 seconds. Marilyn Little (USA) and Clearwater took second with a time of 29.954 seconds, while Santiago Lambre (MEX) and Doloris stopped the jump-off timers at 30.305 seconds to take third.

The class order saw 66 entries on the track set by Martin Otto (GER), and fourteen combinations advanced to the jump-off round. Eight pairs ended with double clear rounds following their short course performance.

Amanda Derbyshire and Lady Maria BH
Amanda Derbyshire and Lady Maria BH

Derbyshire managed to shave more than a second off the jump-off track compared to her nearest competitors’ times, as Lady Maria BH was able to leave out a stride on two separate places on the course. She said, “Maria is a very fast horse with a big stride. In the first line, I did eight where most people did nine, and then where most people did seven, I did six strides to a double. I mean, she’s just so quick and agile. She doesn’t spend much time in the air, so that’s always an advantage.”

“She always tries to leave the jumps up and tries to win, so I always have that on my side going into the jump off,” she added.

The pair went second in the original order of go and was able to maintain their lead with the large number of entries in the jump-off to follow their first round.

“I thought the course was nice. You had to be pretty on it in the first round to make the time allowed. There was a hedge jump in there, which I haven’t seen for a long time, so that was interesting,” Derbyshire elaborated. “Less horses spooked at it than you’d think, but that’s always an interesting jump.”

Amanda Derbyshire and Lady Maria BH in their presentation ceremony.
Amanda Derbyshire and Lady Maria BH in their presentation ceremony.

A tricky spot that Lady Maria BH handled well in only five strides, did not go so well for other horse and rider combinations. The pair made easy work of the short course and Derbyshire was very pleased with their round today in George H. Morris Arena.

“There was one option after the combination, where you could either do a steady six to the fence or go in five. Lady Maria BH is so stridey, so I chose to go in five, but then a couple people then had that down because it was pretty flat in the five,” she commented. “I actually had it down on my other horse trying to do the five and make the time allowed, when in hindsight, I should have done the six like a couple people did, but I was thinking about the time.”

The 2006 Holsteiner mare (Cartani x Corrado I) owned by Gochman Sport Horse LLC, has been partnered with Derbyshire for two years now, and according to Derbyshire, is the first truly quality horse she’s had to this point in her career.

“She’s got the best heart of any horse I’ve ever known. She always tries hard for me, and she’s always so fast. She’s so laidback to be around in the warm-up that she makes it easy,” elaborated Derbyshire. “She’s very, very quiet in general, which makes things easy at shows like this. She’s not one that you have to take a lot of time preparing, but she’s pretty straightforward and one of the best horses I’ve had, that’s for sure.”

For a horse so fast to have so calm a disposition at the top levels of the sport is rare, Derbyshire admitted, but she explained that it doesn’t mean she’s not fast or even spunky in the show ring. She explained, “You have to kind of wind her up going into the jump-off, actually. Her stride is very deceiving; people say, ‘How did you do eight in the first line? She’s so little!’ But she’s just got a deceivingly big stride.”

Click here to view final results for the $35,000 1.45m Suncast® Commercial Welcome CSI 2*.

For more information on TIEC, please visit www.tryon.com.

Press release: Sarah Madden for TIEC
Photos: ©Sportfot

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