Lexington, KY – August 2, 2025 – It was derby day at the Kentucky Summer Classic as professional and junior/amateur riders gathered to compete in the $7,500 USHJA Open National Hunter Derby and $7,500 USHJA Junior/Amateur National Hunter Derby in the Stonelea Ring. Allison Kroff showed the way in the $7,500 USHJA Open National Hunter Derby with Game Day, while Kenzie Smith had a one-two finish in the $7,500 USHJA Junior/Amateur National Hunter Derby with Talk and Sundown, respectively.
Allison Kroff & Game Day
Kevin Holowack designed the beautiful courses for Saturday’s highlight event in the Stonelea Ring. The welcoming first round allowed riders to showcase their horses’ brilliance over the fences, while the handy course offered more dynamic options including the opportunity to choose your own path to the sixth fence, which was also one of the four high options. The course ended with an in-and-out towards the gate before riders walked out of the ring.
Hayley Barnhill & Carosello
The $7,500 USHJA Open National Hunter Derby got underway first, where Kroff and Game Day led from start to finish after earning a score of 94 during the classic round. Returning on top, the pressure was on to lay down another brilliant round, but Game Day was up to the challenge, executing perfect turns and quality jumping efforts to earn another 94 for a 188 total and the winning honors. Hayley Barnhill had two consistent rounds with Carosello to earn scores of 91 and 91.5 for a 182.5 that would place second. Last week’s winners, Michael Desiderio and Cocolores, had the second-highest handy round score with a 93. Combined with their first round score of 87 they earned a 180 total for third place.
Michael Desiderio & Cocolores
Game is an 8-year-old warmblood gelding owned by Tarah Wolf that has traveled to the Kentucky Horse Park to compete in the 2025 Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championship.”This has been amazing,” smiled Kroff after her win. “Game Day came out ready to go. He is just brilliant. He comes out every single day the same. He is such a team player. He goes out and jumps a ten every time. This is our first time coming here to compete, so it’s been incredible being here.
Kenzie Smith & Talk
The next event in the Stonelea Ring was the $7,500 USHJA Junior/Amateur National Hunter Derby where 13-year-old Kenzie Smith had a dominating performance as she took home the top two awards with Talk and Sundown, respectively. She had the highest classic score of the day with Talk, earning a 95 and then returning for the handy to earn a 92 for a total score of 187. Sundown was right behind his barnmate in the handy, earning a 91 that would garner second place. Colvin Hall and Miss Montreal rounded out the top three with two consistent performances.
Colvin Hall & Miss Montreal
Talk is a 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood that Smith normally shows in the equitation for owner Charlotte Rossetter, however his beautiful jump and ability to execute a flawless handy round made him the perfect choice for Friday’s Derby.
“His jump is really fun,” noted Smith. “He’s definitely more of a quiet ride – needs a little bit of leg, but by the end of the course he gets on it. He’s an equitation horse, so we just show him in the derbies for fun, but in the handy today I just wanted to stay consistent.”
The Kentucky Summer Classic is coming to a close, but several horse and rider combinations will be continuing their trip to Kentucky, Many have gathered to prepare for the 2025 Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championship, the Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship, and the 2025 USEF Pony Finals, which will all take place in August at the Kentucky Horse Park. For more information on Kentucky Horse Shows LLC and the Kentucky Summer Horse Shows, please visit www.kentuckyhorseshows.com.
