Best of JN: Watch the Top Rounds of the ASPCA Maclay Finals With George Morris Commentary

Hunter Holloway and C'est la Vie. Photo by Annan Hepner/Phelps Media Group

Hunter Holloway and C’est la Vie. Photo by Annan Hepner/Phelps Media Group

There was a LOT to do in the opening round of the ASPCA Maclay Finals at the CP National Horse Show, and thirty out of 120 riders were able to get it all done and be invited back for the final round Sunday Night.

Topping the board was Brian Moggre aboard MTM Farm’s Viceroy, followed by Lucy Deslauriers aboard the iconic Class Action. They had their work cut out for them with some incredibly tight turns, challenging combinations and bold fences, but the best of them made it a fluid and seamless day in the park, just as it ought to be. Watch the top two rounds here!

Lucy Delauriers and Class Action:

Brian Moggre and Viceroy:

Thirty riders were invited back for the finals, and the awards came down to one exceptional ride. The best round was clear, and no further round callbacks were made after round two.

The winner was Hunter Holloway aboard C’est La Vie. Hunter had just won her first major equitation championship the week before at the iconic Washington International Horse Show aboard her veteran partner Any Given Sunday, but the Oldenburg gelding came up with a sudden fever, and a decision had to be made. She and coach Don Stewart opted to have her ride her gray mount whom she rode in the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East.

“It was a little last minute switcheroo,” said Holloway. “Any Given Sunday wasn’t feeling his best; he had a temperature, but he’ll be back in no time. We got [C’est La Vie] the week before USET finals. He’s a super horse and he wants to do the best he can. He lives to please.”

The ASPCA Maclay National Championship has been held since 1933, and it is one of the most prestigious competitions for junior riders in the United States. Its winners are some of the biggest names in equestrian sport. Previous winners include: William Steinkraus in 1941, Frank Chapot (1948), George Morris (1952), Leslie Burr Howard (1972), Stacia Klein Madden (1987) and Nicole Shahinian Simpson (1992). The 2014 ASPCA Maclay National Championship winner was Tori Colvin of Loxahatchee, Florida, and in 2015 McKayla Langmeier of East Granby, Connecticut, won the title.

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