Harrisburg, PA – Hunter Champey and Escada kicked off the 76th annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show with a victory in the $5,000 Neue Schule/USEF Junior Jumper National Championship Welcome, presented by Turnham Green, on Thursday, October 13, at the PA Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA.
A field of 37 of the country’s top junior jumper athletes contested the Phase I speed track set in the Harrisburg Coliseum by Alan Wade, but none could catch Champey. The 17-year-old was 14th in the order of go, and she and Escada, owned by MDHT Equestrian LLC, blazed through the timers, setting the time to beat at 61.704 seconds. From there, no one would come within two seconds of Champey’s time. Zayna Rizvi and Exquise du Pachis, owned by Optimus Agro NV, came the closest with a time of 63.836 seconds. Rounding out the top three with a time of 64.496 seconds were Stella Wasserman and Eldorado WP Z.
For the win, Champey received the Helvetia Stables Perpetual Trophy, donated by Nancy M. Harris and John Scott Norogren.
“I was happy with the whole round; it was one of my best rounds with [Escada],” said Champey, who trains with Alexandra Treires, Eleanor Kunsman and Emil Spadone. “I’m really proud of her and myself for having that great of a round.
“[Escada’s] a one of a kind of a horse,” continued Champey, who has had the ride on the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare for the past two years. “She’s super scopey. She’s so fast and so careful and never wants to knock a rail down. I think that her natural quickness helped a lot.”
With the Thursday win under her belt, Champey will now set her sights on the $15,000 Neue Schule/USEF Prix des States Team Championship and Individual Championship Phase II on Friday, October 14, beginning at 4:30 p.m.
Following the conclusion of Friday’s modified Nations Cup format class, the top 60 percent of riders will advance to the Individual Championship Phase III on Saturday at 5:45 p.m. There, the rider with the lowest number of combined penalties after all three phases will be crowned the 2022 individual champion.
“This is really important to me,” said Champey of Bedminster, NJ. “It’s my first Prix des States ever, so I’m just really happy that I started off on the right foot and got the win and got the confidence boost for the rest of the time here. What I love about showing here is that it’s an indoor ring, and it’s different than every other horse show. It’s a new environment and with the crowd and with everything indoors, you get a real sense of livelihood within the ring and everyone supporting you. Especially for a team competition…you can just feel that support behind you.”
For full results from Thursday’s class, click here. To learn more about the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, visit www.PAnational.org.
