Christina Fisher and Hannah Patten Blaze to Blue Ribbons in Rolex Stadium

Lexington, Ky. – Aug. 4, 2017 – Amateurs ruled the Rolex Stadium at the Kentucky Summer Classic horse show on Friday. Christina Fisher of Atlanta, Georgia, won the Low Amateur-Owner Jumper speed class on Zanzibar in a time of 58.482 seconds, beating out 32 other competitors. In addition, Hannah Patten won her own blue ribbon in the Medium Amateur-Owner/Junior Jumper speed class aboard Love. The pair completed the course in a time of 52.632 seconds.

Christina Fisher with Zanzibar

Christina Fisher, a 24-year-old and recent graduate of Georgia Tech, competes in both the hunter and jumper rings with equal success. Though she started riding hunters as a child and only just began competing in the jumpers over the past year, Fisher has wasted no time moving up the divisions. After purchasing Zanzibar a year ago, Fisher has shown the 13-year-old KWPN gelding in both the Low Amateur Jumpers as well as hunter classes including the USHJA hunter derbies. The pair are planning to compete together in the upcoming 2017 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship here at the Kentucky Horse Park in two weeks.

Patten’s win in the Medium Amateur-Owner/Junior Jumpers on Love, her 15-year-old Belgian Sport Horse gelding, is just one of the reasons the 18-year-old from Williamstown, Massachusetts, is having a great two weeks at the Kentucky Summer Horse Shows. In addition to winning on Friday afternoon, Patten cheered on her trainer, Sydney Shulman, and her 9-year-old gelding Curby Du Seigneur to a win in Thursday evening’s $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic.

Hannah Patten on Love

Patten, who moonlights as the author of the popular lifestyle blog, The Patten Standard, credits her strong bond with Love to her competitive instinct. The pair have been competing together for five years and most recently won the Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic at the Fairfield Hunt Club June Classic.

Coming up on Saturday evening, the Rolex Stadium will play host to the main event of the Kentucky Summer Classic, the $50,000 Kentucky Summer Grand Prix. The grand prix event will start promptly at 7 p.m. and feature some of the most competitive grand prix professionals in the country.

FROM THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Christina Fisher

On her plan in the Low Amateur Speed class:
“To go fast and to leave the jumps up.”

On Zanzibar:
“I have had him for about a year and this win was special because he has been off since April. This is his first show back. It was a real confidence booster to know that he could walk back in the ring and win.”

On competing in both the hunter and jumpers:
“I do not actually have trouble going from one ring or the other, especially on Zanzibar because I show him in both. I have only been doing the jumpers for a year. The hunters are my first love but the jumpers are quickly gaining.”

Hannah Patten

On Love:
“I have had him since I was 13 and I know him really well because he used to be my grand prix horse. Sydney [Shulman] was very hungry for a win today so she told me to go in there and win so we went for it. I trust him a lot and he has a huge stride so I knew that we could get down the lines without a problem.”

On why she prefers to compete in speed classes:
“I love the speed classes because you can just get down and dirty and take care of business. Love is such a great speed horse because you can start off going as fast as you can but then immediately adjust and make an inside turn that most other riders can’t. Even though he is bigger than almost all of the other horses, he is very rideable.”

On balancing her blog with her riding:
“The only way that I can get everything done is by multitasking. It is not uncommon for me to be on my dirt bike driving in between classes on a conference call or emailing on a trail ride. It only works because this is the millennial world and you can work from anywhere as long as you have a laptop and a cell phone.”

RESULTS

Low Amateur-Owner Jumper

1. Zanzibar / Christina Fisher / Christina Fisher / 0 / 58.482
2. Kentucky Bourbon SCF / Kelly Arani /  Marigot Bay Farm / 0 / 59.115
3. Condor / Margaret Oberkircher / Southfields Farms LLC / 0 / 59.559
4. Darabi / Katherine Bakker / Katherine Bakker / 0 / 59.975
5. Wiolinde / Sarah Clifton Yandell / Sarah Clifton Yandell / 0 / 61.115
6. Esquire / Logan Marksbury / Exstream Sport Horses / 0 / 62.022

Medium Amateur-Owner / Junior Jumper

1. Love / Hannah Patten / Hannah Patten / 0 / 52.632
2. Skribbelino / Teri Kessler / Teri Kessler / 0 / 52.774
3. Balio / Michelle Navarro-Grau / Michelle Navarro-Grau / 0 / 53.226
4. Arena Du Pachis / Monica Carrera / Monica Carrera / 0 / 53.799
5. Casanova P.B. / Shanee Herskovitz / Amanda Derbyshire / 0 / 55.159
6. Ecuador / Anna Beth Athey / Anna Beth Athey / 0 / 55.776

Emma Wujek Claims Grand Junior Hunter Championship at Kentucky Summer Classic
On a beautiful afternoon at the Kentucky Horse Park, junior rider Emma Wujek from Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, claimed the Grand Junior Hunter Championship at the Kentucky Summer Classic. Wujek competed John Yozell’s Breeze, a 12-year-old Warmblood mare in the Large Junior Hunter 15 and Under division. The pair won two of the over fences classes, earned a blue ribbon in the handy, placed second in the undersaddle and received a yellow ribbon in the remaining over fences class.

Emma Wujek and Breeze

Wujek rides with Tim and Kelly Goguen of Boggs Hill Farm and spends many weeks training with them at their base in Lexington, Kentucky, and Wellington, Florida, during the winter months. The talented bay mare is a sales horse and the junior rider has had the opportunity to work with her for the past three weeks. The duo competed at the Great Lake Equestrian Festival and then traveled to the Kentucky Horse Shows. Wujek will remain in Kentucky for a few weeks and looks forward to the indoor season.

Though Wujek competes the mare in the junior hunter ring, Havens Schatt occasionally competes Breeze in derbies, and placed ninth overall at the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Devon Horse Show in May as well as third in the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the inaugural Deeridge Derby Weekend in Wellington in March.

Emma Wujek on Breeze. Photography by Shawn McMillen

The Grand Junior Hunter Championship is sponsored by Visse Wedell with Kirkpatrick & Companies. During the show, she noted, “I sponsor the grand hunter champions because I feel it is important to support the hunters and I want to give something extra special to the people that exceed in their divisions whether it is the professionals or the amateurs or pony riders. I love to give a trophy because we all like to go home with something special other than a cooler or a backpack.”

Additional Grand Hunter Championships will be awarded later this week to the top Amateur-Owner and Pony Hunters. Additional hunter highlights include the $5,000 World Equestrian Center/Kentucky Horse Shows USHJA National Hunter Derby on Saturday in the Stonelea Ring.

FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE

Emma Wujek

On Breeze:
“She has been so awesome and jumping so well! My rounds today felt so good. She has an incredible jump. She just goes around the ring and if you set her up right where she needs to be she just comes off the ground and it’s like a balloon, she’s so nice. Breeze is such a sweetheart. I’ll just go up to her stall and she has her ears up and she starts whinnying.”

On her strategy in the handy:
“My strategy was definitely in those inside turns because she’s very handy. She lands both her leads so she’s really good in the handy. It’s the turning part that keeps us smooth and slick.”

On the Kentucky Horse Shows:
“I think the facilities are so nice! Being able to have the grass field out there to walk the horses around, it’s just so nice. The show is run so well. You never have the worry about the management. I have to ride a bunch of horses a lot of the time, and they’re always telling us where to go – it’s a luxury!”

RESULTS

Small Junior Hunters

Champion A: Augusta Iwasaki and Boris
Reserve A: Augusta Iwasaki and Cavalier
Champion B: Caroline Kahn and Mango
Reserve B: Sophie Gochman and Dominik

Large Junior Hunter 15 & Under

Champion: Emma Wujek and Breeze
Reserve: Chloe White and Tztargazer

Large Junior Hunter 16-17

Champion: Annabel Revers and MTM Hands Down
Reserve: Adam Edgar and Simply Red

Junior Hunter 3’3

Champion: Sofia Roberts and Small Gesture
Reserve: Libbie Gordon and Unexpected

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