Wellington, Fla.—March 22

When Greg Crolick sat down to do his entries for Winter Equestrian Festival Week 11, he paused when he got to Chappy’s name. The derby specialist is a naturally quiet horse, and Crolick wasn’t sure that doing both today’s $15,000 Marshall & Sterling/Great American USHJA International Hunter Derby and this weekend’s $50,000 edition would suit the gelding.

But in the end he signed Chappy up for both, and they are off to a great start for the weekend with a win in today’s hunt and go format class.

For a while it looked like spectators who braved the rain would get to see a rare derby jump-off, as Jacob Pope’s ride Unbelievable stayed tied for the lead with Nick Haness’ partner Caristo for most of the class. (In USHJA international derbies, when two horses tie for the lead, they jump a shorter jump-off track to determine the winner; those not placed first stay tied.) But when Chappy entered the grass derby field and picked up a lick, he laid down an unbeatable round that judges Rob Bielefeld and Bob Crandall rewarded with scores of 91 and 88.75. Coupled with the high option bonus points, he sealed the win by 0.75 points over Caristo and Unbelievable, who tied for second.

Course designer Ken Krome set jumps near the derby field’s natural features, which didn’t seem to bother the horses (they got to walk and trot on the field this morning before the class). He did swap one obstacle near a few ponds from an in-and-out to a single jump before the start of the class, to alleviate concerns the footing might get dicey in the rain.

“I love jumping out here [on the grass],” Crolick said. “I think the horses jump so much better. For a horse like Chappy, who needs something more thrilling more daring or more challenging, it’s great for him. All three of my horses went really well. I’m happy with all of them.”

Chappy kept up beautiful form over all the high options and nailed the trot jump to take the win.

“He just is naturally talented,” said Crolick, Clarkston, Michigan. “He has natural scope and carefulness. Once in a while we make a mistake here and there, but he’s got a really level head and he’s really quiet. So it was really nice to go in there; I don’t have to worry about the pond or a bush—that doesn’t really faze him. It’s more or less keeping his energy up coming down to the bigger jumps.

“Yes, there’s a big field and there’s some high scores going out there with good riders and great horses, so I just tried to put in a good solid round and be as handy as I can within the handy [portion] to give a little wow factor,” he added.

Crolick and Carole Chase’s 13-year-old Mecklenberg (Chacco Blue—Chakira Z) have been paired up for about three years, and they finished ninth at Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships (Kentucky) last year. At home Chappy focuses on hacking and trail riding, with plenty of ground poles and cavaletti, and only jumps occasionally to prepare for an upcoming show. He didn’t do anything special to prepare him for today’s class on the grass.

With 2.75 inches of rain forecast for the Wellington, Florida, show grounds in the next 24 hours (in addition to the half inch or so that fell this morning) organizers opted to move this week’s $50,000 derby from tomorrow to Sunday to give the ring a chance to dry out. Crolick said that works in Chappy’s favor as he’ll be able to take the day to do some light exercise on the walker and under saddle.

While Chappy’s owner wasn’t able to watch him in person today, she’s planning on being there to watch her gelding contest the $50,000 class.

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