Three years ago, Brad Wolf decided to fill a void in his life. A heart surgeon with a thriving practice in Memphis, Tenn., he felt like something was missing.
   
“I had no hobby at all, and I’d been in practice for 10 years, just working myself to the bone and not doing anything else,” Wolf said. He’d ridden and shown as a junior but had taken a 20-year break from horses to attend medical school and establish his practice.

So, he called trainer and good friend Tom Wright and jumped right back into the game. “When I first started back, it took my mind off of everything at work, so it’s such a nice break. It’s a good escape for me,” Wolf said. And just a few short years later, he rode his Rio Renoir to the grand amateur-owner hunter and amateur-owner hunter, 36 and over, championships at Devon, May 28-June 3 in Devon, Pa.

“I’m very excited. He jumped so well, and he’s fun to ride in that ring,” he said. “Last year we didn’t have enough points to show here. So this year one of my main goals was to qualify to show here.” Wolf showed at indoors as a junior but had never shown in Devon’s famed Dixon Oval.

And while he’s loved getting back on a horse, Wolf doesn’t get to practice much. “I have to come in the night before I show. I got here midnight Thursday night and got on Friday morning and went to the ring,” he said. He didn’t let the frenzied schedule bother him, though. He rode “Rio” to two second places over fences on the first day of the division and to fourth in the under saddle.

The second day, he placed fourth in the first over-fences class, and it became obvious that a heated battle for the championship was ensuing between he and Teri Kessler on Pavarotti.

But in the stakes class, Wolf and Rio  were on their game. “I said to myself ‘I know we’re doing well; I’ll  just nail this last oxer,’ and we did,” he said. They sewed up the win in the class, while Pavarotti and Kessler took second. The two were tied in the championship points race, but Wolf and Rio had more points over fences and prevailed for the division and grand amateur-owner titles.

“Teri and I were fighting it out the whole weekend,” said Wolf. “Showing here was a little bit nerve-wracking in the sense that everyone has such high expectations, and the quality of horses is so good. It makes you want to do your best.”

But in Rio, an 8-year-old Canadian Sport Horse (Rio Grande—Dunja), Wolf has an able partner for his best. The flashy bay has had much success in the professional divisions. Wolf bought him in the beginning of 2006, after he’d spent a year showing in the adult amateur division.

Rio did take some getting used to, Wolf admitted. “He jumps really high over every jump. It’s hard to hold on. But he’s got the best canter of any horse I’ve ever ridden, and you see the jumps from a mile away. He makes it easy for you,” he said.

It’s Stewart Again
While Wolf was relishing his remarkable Devon debut, Scott Stewart accomplished a noteworthy feat of his own—taking his fifth consecutive Devon leading hunter rider title. He also rode the grand hunter and regular conformation hunter champion, Highland Park, and the first year green hunter champion, Ovation.

Winning at Devon definitely isn’t new for Stewart, but this year he put a little twist on the theme. His tricolors on Highland Park came as a last-minute catch ride.

Holly Orlando trains Highland Park for owner Laura Lee Montross, and Jimmy Torano usually shows the big bay for her. But Torano had judged during Devon Junior Weekend, so Orlando had to look for another jockey.

“She asked me Monday morning to show the horse, so I don’t know that much about him. He’s really brave, has a huge stride, and the jumps are really easy for him. I just jumped a couple before we went; he was that easy,” Stewart said.

“I love riding him, but I also like watching him go,” said Orlando. “He’s 17 hands and wide, and when I get on him, I feel pretty small! He’s a lot stronger and needs a lot of leg. I always thought Scott would do a great job with him, and he didn’t have one in that division, so it worked out nicely.”

Montross also shows Highland Park, an 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood, in the adult amateur division.

Stewart’s own string of horses also did quite well at Devon, led by Molly Ohrstrom’s Ovation, the first year green champion. “He was actually better than I thought he’d be since he’s pretty green,” Stewart said of the
6-year-old Brandenburg.

“The courses were a little bit different this year, and he handled it great. I was very happy with him. He was very consistent in every class and very straightforward.”

Stewart also picked up reserve championships in the regular working division on Dynamic and the green conformation division aboard Perfectionist.

French Returns With Wins
But Stewart’s leading rider title wasn’t a runaway victory—California rider John French flew in and gave him a run for his money. French guided Andiamo to the regular working hunter championship and Scout to the green conformation hunter tricolor.

French, who grew up in Maryland, hadn’t shown at Devon in 20 years, so he relished his victorious return. “I’ve never had a Devon like this. I think I’ve only showed here three times before this. It used to be, ‘Oh, I’m never going to beat those people. I’m not a big enough name,’ ” French said.

But French has made quite a name for himself, and when trainer Archie Cox told him he’d be bringing a load of horses east for Devon and asked French to accompany them, French jumped at the chance.  He had sold both Andiamo and Scout to students of Cox, so was thrilled to keep the rides in the professional divisions.

French saw Andiamo, the regular working champion, in December 2006 at a horse show in St. Louis, Mo. “I asked if he was for sale, and they said no. Right before I left, they said, ‘OK, we’ll sell him.’ But I had to leave and catch my plane, so I never got to ride him. I told them my customers would buy him anyway, and just kind of thought to myself ‘I hope I can ride this horse!’

“We took him to [the HITS Desert Circuit (Calif.)] and he was circuit champion in the second years and regular working,” French said of the 7-year-old Westphalian gelding. Janie Andrew, who rides with Cox, bought Andiamo in March, but French kept the ride. “He’s got such a big stride, and he’s so slow in the air. He feels like the jumps could be five feet, and he’d go just the same.”

Parry Thomas, the owner of the famed dressage horse Brentina, bought the green conformation champion, Scout, at an auction in Germany. “He just liked him and got caught up in the moment at the auction,” French said.

Scout eventually found his way to French’s farm last fall to be sold, and Cox’s student Stephanie Danhakl bought him right away. “He has a really big stride. I like a horse who’s quiet, and he’s almost too quiet. He’s to the extreme,” French said. Since Danhakl is in college, French kept the ride on Scout, too.

Cox’s trip east proved quite worthwhile, as French wasn’t his only winning rider. Peter Lombardo and Jane Fraze’s Mandarin claimed the regular conformation hunter reserve championship, and Cox’s student Lucy Davis dominated the junior hunter divisions (see p. 34).

A New Star
Jennifer Alfano’s Devon had a bittersweet tinge to it. On the first day of the show, she led GG Valentine into the ring for a moving retirement ceremony. “It was a great ceremony, but it was a bit sad,” she said. She and the bay mare had begun their famed career earning the first year green hunter championship at Devon in 2001. In the Dixon Oval, they claimed the second year green reserve title in 2002, and reserve in the regular working division in 2003, so it was only fitting to say goodbye to “GG” there.

GG will be a tough act to follow, but Alfano might have a worthy successor in Rock Star, whom she rode to this year’s second year green championship.

“He’s really coming into his own this year. He was great in Florida, and I was kind of hoping this would be his year,” Alfano said. “I was really surprised to be champion—the points were so spread out that I had no idea that there was even a chance to be champion. But that made it even more exciting.”

Rock Star took a second, third and fourth over fences and finished Devon with a second place in the stakes class.

Rock Star showed at Devon last year as a first-year horse, but “he just got overlooked a little bit last year. He needed bigger jumps and more of a challenge,” said Alfano, who also showed the 8-year-old gelding in the regular working division at Devon.

Alfano and trainer Susie Schoellkopf found Rock Star in Louise Serio’s barn. “We originally bought him for his owner to show in the amateurs, but she got hurt and had to have hip surgery. She ended up not being able to ride, so I was lucky he ended up being my ride,” Alfano said.

While Alfano has a long history of winning at Devon, Jennifer Bauersachs is new to it. She relished claiming the leading lady hunter rider trophy after guiding Sterling to the second year green hunter reserve championship. “I dreamt it, but I never thought it would actu-ally happen,” said Bauersachs. “I have amazing students and wonderful horses, and a husband who has an amazing talent for finding these horses.”

Bauersachs and her husband, Rolf, run a training and sales business out of Frenchtown, N.J. Bauersachs showed at Devon years ago in the amateur-owner jumper division, aboard Drafty, with her maiden name of Schmidt. “My first time doing the hunters here was two years ago, and I was so nervous I couldn’t see straight,” Bauersachs said with a grin. “I always remember sitting here watching Katie Monahan doing the regular workings, so this is incredible.”

Starting Over
Julianna Johnson did her time at Devon as a junior rider, but when she turned 18, she left it all behind. “I stopped showing for seven years. I was just sick of it,” she said.

But returning to take the amateur-owner hunter, 18-35 championship on Kingston helped brighten her outlook. “The pressure is so much as a junior, it means so much to me to come back as an amateur and complete that circle and do well.”

Johnson, 29, never gave up on horses completely. During her break from showing, she foxhunted with the Essex Foxhounds (N.J.) and rode for pleasure on the family farm in Oldwick, N.J. Her brother, Tucker, is an international four-in-hand driver.

She also kept herself busy graduating from Barnard College (N.Y.), having a daughter, now 2, designing jewelry, and getting involved in charity work. Two years ago, she started riding again with Sandra Loebel, who had taught her as a child. Loebel found Kingston for her, and Johnson’s competitive streak re-ignited.

“We’re just such a good match,” Johnson said of Kingston, an 11-year-old Swedish Warmblood who had been an event horse in Sweden. “I just so got lucky finding him. I don’t think anyone expected that he would become the horse that he is. He has this relaxing stride, and he’s very confident and he’s a real showman. He really gives me confidence. Even when I make a mistake, he makes it look great.”

Lara Gay celebrated her own return to Devon as an amateur with the amateur-owner jumper championship. “I haven’t been here since I was a junior. I went to college and got married and didn’t show for a few years, but now I’m back,” said Gay, 21.

Gay rode Campesino to win the first two amateur-owner jumper classes in the week but missed qualifying for the jump-off in the final Show Jumping Hall of Fame Classic by just 1 time fault. “It was a little bit frustrating, especially because it was just 100th of a second. But that’s the way it goes—I didn’t ride fast enough,” she said.

Cara Cheska won the classic on Game Twist but had to settle for reserve in the championship. Gay was thrilled that Campesino, 16, still has the winning fire in him. “I’ve had him for five years. We’ve been very excited that he’s kept going so long. When we bought him, we thought we’d only get a few years of showing, so it’s been great to have him all this time. He’s a real pleasure to ride. He tries very hard to figure the course out on his own. He has a great spirit,” she said.

Gay took a break from showing to concentrate on her college studies at Brigham Young University in Utah. “I never stopped riding, but it’s really hard to do the commute, so I decided to slow down the showing. But now I wanted to take the time and compete again, so I did Florida this winter, and I’ll show the whole summer, and then go back to school for another year,” she said. Gay also got married in 2005.

In the two years that Gay took off, Campesino went back to the basics. “He hung out. My sister [Summer] did the amateurs with him a little bit, and then he just took it easy last year. He did a lot of flatwork to keep his muscle up,” she said.

“When we got him, he didn’t know his lead changes, so I just kind of battled through that when I was a junior. But in the time that he had off, we really worked on the lead changes and getting him more balanced, and that’s really helped.”

Ward Wins It Again
McLain Ward laid the gauntlet down as first to go in the jump-off for the $75,000 Budweiser Grand Prix of Devon. He and Sapphire negotiated an extremely tight inside turn between the first and second fences in the jump-off to post a blazing time and put the pressure on the remaining four riders.

“I didn’t really think there was an option, to be honest. There were some very fast horses and riders coming after me. Her strength in speed is her turns, so I thought I had to go inside,” Ward said.

He followed that daring turn up with a strong gallop down the long side of the ring to the last fence—a vertical. “It’s always a risk to gallop to a big vertical at the end, but I’m lucky to have a great horse. The more I galloped her, the more she backed up, and she was great,” Ward said.

The gambles paid off, as no one else could match them. Margie Engle and Hidden Creek’s Perin made a valiant effort, slicing that first turn. But a bobble on the turn meant a rail at the second fence.

“It was a harder turn than it looked. He grabbed his left front as he was turning, and he tripped a little bit, and I almost went into the standard. He ripped half his foot off. I just knew he tripped—I didn’t know how badly he’d grabbed himself. He was dead honest to even jump the second jump since I got there almost at a standstill. He tried to jump it clean, but we had nothing to it,” Engle said.

There aren’t many combinations faster than Laura Chapot and Little Big Man, and when they nimbly twisted around the early inside turn, the crowd got excited. But they paid for the saved seconds with a rail at the second fence, and then a tight turn to another vertical brought a stop.

Pato Muente challenged next and opted to go outside on the crucial first turn. “I knew McLain was double clean, and my horse over-jumped the first fence, and I just figured I’d keep going and go around,” he said.
But the effort to be clean and careful backfired when As Di Villagana pulled a rail later in the jump-off at a combination. “Three strides out, I knew I was going to have it down because I let him get a little bit flat. After that, I tried to go as safely as possible,” Muente said. They finished with 8 jumping faults and a time fault.

Michael Morrissey, just 21, looked to be on target to challenge Ward after completing the tight inside turn quite neatly. But a miscommunication on the approach to the last line resulted in a crash, and elimination for him and Crelido.

Ward’s double clean prevailed, while Engle’s round on the 18-year-old veteran Perin finished second, with Muente and As Di Villagana third. Muente, of Argentina, was thrilled with the result. “To be around all these guys is very special for me,” he said. He hopes to represent Argentina at the Pan American Games (Brazil) in August.

Ward used Devon as a refresher for Sapphire, his 2004 Olympics and 2006 World Equestrian Games (Germany) partner. “The first jump she jumped since the [Rolex FEI Show Jumping World Cup Finals (Nev.) in April] was in the schooling area here. I wanted to give her a class as a warm-up before we go to Europe for the Super League in Rotterdam [the Netherlands] in a few weeks,” he said.

Ward’s Devon win was his fifth in the class over the years and also marked his 101st career grand prix victory. He won at Devon last year on a last-minute catch-ride from Danielle Torano. “Obviously, this is a very special place for me. For some reason, things go my way here. Odd things happen for me here, and I seem to rise to the occasion. Sometimes the stars line up for you in different places,” he said.

Molly Sorge