Thermal, CA – February 28, 2025 – Lauren Kay has been partnered with Newsflash for the past two years, and now, after taking things slowly, the 7-year-old gelding has come into his own and begun to make headlines. On Friday, February 28, at Desert Circuit 8, the pair delivered two impressive performances to capture the win in the $15,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby – Junior/Amateur, sponsored by Burrtec Waste & Recycling.
“He’s super talented, and we feel that, hopefully, he’ll be an international derby horse ultimately,” said Kay of Newsflash. “He’s stayed in the 3’3” [Amateur-Owner Hunters], and then this circuit, he’s really come into himself. He’s more muscled. He knows his job, and he seems to love the derbies. It gives him something to do. It’s a little more interesting than just doing single, line, single, line. So, he seems to have taken to this really well.”
Newsflash certainly took well to Friday afternoon’s class in the Main Hunter Ring at the Desert International Horse Park. In the first round, Kay and Newsflash earned a score of 88.5 to move into third place in the 38-horse field. From there, they returned to catapult to the top of the leaderboard with a handy-round score of 92 for a 180.5 winning total.
Second place with a score of 176.5 (88.25 + 88.25) went to Emily Williams and Beach Boy, and Nico Alario took third after riding Sporting Chance to scores of 85 and 90 for a 175 total.
“I rode equitation as a junior, and I ride the jumpers too, so I love the derby part,” explained Kay. “I feel like the more you challenge him a little – get him to think, ‘Okay, where are we going?’ – the better he is, versus letting him get a little lackadaisical. So, I loved every part of the second round. I’m sure there’s always room for improvement. I’d have to go back and watch the video, but I did everything I planned to do exactly how I planned to do it. He was completely dialed in and ready to go.”
To view full results of the $15,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby – Junior/Amateur, sponsored by Burrtec Waste & Recycling, click here.
