June 2021 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN June 2021 Page 19 Land Preservation Trust Release The inaugural running of Ju- nior Champions’ Day, sponsored by the Land Preservation Trust, went off without a hitch under beautifully sunny skies at Shawan Downs in Hunt Valley, Maryland on Sunday, May 2nd. The meet was organized to celebrate young riders. Ten races/ divisions were carded including the newly conceived Polo Pony Flat race, Junior Field Master Chases for Shetlands and a Restricted Young Rider Amateur Flat for amateur jockeys age 14- 18. The day was fortunate to have a mass of volunteers including Tom Garner and Daisy Fenwick as Field Masters, Tommy Fen- wick as the Clerk of the Course, Gabrielle Bernier as steward, For- rest Kelly as the Paddock Judge and Ross Geraghty as the starter. Domino Effect, owned by Cat- ie Keil, trained by Suzanne Stet- tinius, and ridden by Fritz Gische, prevailed in the Lead Line Trot Race. Olney Smarty Pants, owned by Sophie Perri, trained by Kate Perri, and ridden by Paige Wyatt, won the Shetland Pony Flat Race. Winners of the small, medium and large Pony Flat Races were, respec- tively, Savannah, owned and ridden by Emma Paternote, and trained by Rachael Lively; Fiona, owned by Nina McKenna, trained by Katherine S. Neilson and ridden by Ellet Sharp; and Charmed, owned by WMT Stables, trained by Bernie Houghton, and ridden by Thomas Houghton. The very popular Polo Pony Flat Race was split into two divisions and was dominated by the Work to Ride program from Pennsylvania. Division I was won Kids Have a Blast Racing on Junior Champions Day by Work to Ride, Inc.'s Terasita, trained by Lezlie Hiner and ridden by Jeannie Valasquez. The second division was won by Rosie, owned by Work to Ride, trained by Lezlie Hiner, and ridden by Josie Gold- stein. The Garrison Forrest Polo program was also well represented. GFS Polo and Posey Obrecht’s help coordinating ponies and jockeys for this new and fantas- tic division made it possible. All were honored to have the awards for this inaugural Polo Pony Flat division presented by Kareem Rosser, a graduate of the Work to Ride program, a national polo star, and author of the newly published memoir Crossing the Line: AFear- less Team of Brothers in the Sport that Changed their Lives Forever. The Junior Field Master Chase included the first ever Shetland pony division. Avery competitive group went to the start and were led by Daisy Fenwick. First under the wire was Puck, owned by Tommy Fenwick, trained by Daisy Fenwick, and ridden by Libby Tellerico. The small and Medium divisions ran together and were led by jockey Tom Garner. The small division was won by Mallory, owned and trained by Christopher Kern, and ridden by Carly Kern. The medium division was won by Fiona, owned by Nina McKenna, trained by Katherine Neilson, and ridden by Ellet Sharp. The Horse Division was won in a walk over by Grandiflora, owned byAnn Merry- man, trained by Suzanne Stettinius, and ridden by Jaidyn Shore. The restricted young rider Amateur Flat also proved to be so popular it was split. The first division was won by To Be or Not To Be, owned by Skip and Vicky Crawford, trained by Jo- seph Davies, and ridden by Teddy Davies. Division II was won by Swim, owned by KMSN Stable, trained by Keri Brion, and ridden by Parker Hendriks. Howard County Cup Races Kids were the priority at the Howard County Cup Races on May 2 as well, which hosted two timber races without spectators, and a host of pony racing oppor- tunities in the Howard County Invitational Pony Races. US Pony Racing hosted a free clinic earlier this year, with Regina Welsh, Erica Gaertner and Suzanne Stettinus teaching kids from the Schuster Foundation the basics of pony racing. A bit of timber racing began the day. The Howard County Hunt Cup, offering a purse of $1,500, drew a field of seven. William Russell's Holiday Mousse, who has bounced around a bit between hurdles and timber, jumped well from mid-pack with McLane Hen- driks and got up for the win. Neil Morris trains the eight-year-old bay gelding. You're No Better, with Courtney Dankanich up, outran Class Indian and Justin Batoff to the wire to grab the second spot. Three horses ran in The Alda Clark Plate Novice Timber. Kinross Corporation's Blackhall, with Teddy Davies riding for Joe Davies, just nipped Morningstar Farm's Jawbone at the wire after a fierce stretch duel. Courtney Dankanich had the ride for trainer Ricky Hendriks. Blackhall is an Irish-bred geld- ing who had one point-to-point win in Ireland from eight races before coming to the US. This was his first official US race. Junior Champion Day at Shawan Downs featured a variety of races for kids, including leadline trot races, the new- ly conceived Polo Pony Flat Races, and a restricted young rider amateur flat race for teens ages 14-17. Here, riders in the first-ever Shetland pony division of the Field Master Chase race for the finish. Photo credit: Carol Fenwick