Tracy Fenney and MTM First Dibs Take First Place in Round Two of the 3'/3'3" Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championship
For the second day, $38,706.50 in prize money is paid out in the Championship
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lexington, Ky.
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August 15, 2018
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The ones had it for Tracy Fenney in the 3'/3'3" Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championship. From an 11th-placed finish in the first round yesterday, to No. 1 today, MTM First Dibs heads into the Championship Round tomorrow having already amassed more than $10,300.
"That's what I think is really cool about [the Championships]," said Fenney about the prize money. "You get rewarded for each round you do, which I think is great, instead of just having to qualify against 150 horses and then just getting the one prize at the end. At least if you feel like you have one good day and one bad day, you still get a good paycheck. And, at the end of today you have a whole new game [for the Championship Round], and you start on a clean slate."
MTM First Dibs (Balzac
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Lady Ludwig) was one of nine horses bearing the MTM prefix in Round 2 of the 3'/3'3" Championships and one of four rides for Fenney, who is no stranger to the Green Hunter Incentive Championship. In fact, Fenney and MTM Personalized won the Pre-Green Incentive Championship in 2015, and she competes in the Championships each year.
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Tracy Fenney piloted MTM First Dibs, owned by MTM Farm, to a first place finish in the Second Round earning $9,676.63 for a two-day total of $10,381.09. Photo credit: Tricia Booker/USHJA
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Mike McCormick's MTM Farm, based in Flower Mound, Texas, is known for bringing along talented Hunters and Jumpers, and it shows with so many who have come out of their program competing in the Championships this year with riders Fenney and Dorothy Douglas.
Fenney noted that while some of her other horses showed their greenness in the second round, MTM First Dibs, an 11-year-old warmblood gelding, was unfazed.
"I was always kind of nervous I think with the younger horse in this size ring," she said of the expansive Walnut Ring. "It's a little harder because they look out of the ring, and they get distracted easily. But with Dibs, it's good because it gives him something to get excited about."
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T
ara Metzner and Davlyn Farms' Lion took second place and $6,851.05, giving them two-day total of $8,438.02. Photo credit: Tricia Booker/USHJA
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In second place and 2 points behind, was fierce competition Lion (Lamm De Fatan
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Qualexia De Mars), owned by Tammy Williams of Davlyn Farms in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and shown by Tara Metzner. The pair put in a beautiful round, holding the lead for much of the 3'3" section with a score of 264. With a sixth-placed finish on the first day with a score of 262.5, the pair had the highest two-round total score of 526.5; however, they will start the Championship Round with a clean slate. Over the two days, Metzner of Encinitas, California, and the 8-year-old, Selle Francais gelding earned more than $8,400.
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Pony Lane Farm's Queen Celeste, ridden by Haylie Rolfe, placed third and earned a check of $3,967.42, giving them a two-day total of $5,360.85. Photo credit: Tricia Booker/USHJA
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Rounding out the top three was Haylie Rolfe of Wellington, Florida, aboard the 7-year-old, Holsteiner mare Queen Celeste (Cassini I
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Sammy Joe), owned by Pony Lane Farm in Bluffdale, Utah. Their two-day payout was more than $5,300, as they head into the Championship Round.
The top-three horses all competed at the 3'3" fence height, and they will advance to the Championship Round as part of the top-30 horses based on cumulative scores from the first two rounds. Competitors start with a clean slate in the Championship Round, where they will compete for $77,413 in prize money.
Thursday, August 16, will kick off the 3'6"/3'9" Green Hunter Incentive Championship, which will feature two rounds of competition. The first round of the 3'6"/3'9" Championship will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the final round of the 3'/3'3" Championship. The day will wrap up with the Championship Round for the 3'6"/3'9". Live streaming coverage will be available for every round on
EQSports.Net. Members can save 50 percent on their subscription with the coupon code USHJA2018.
The USHJA thanks the Official Sponsors who helped to make these championships possible, including: Charles Owen, Inc., the Official Helmet of the USHJA; CWD, the Official Saddle of the USHJA; Parlanti International, the Official Riding Boot of the USHJA; Professional's Choice, the Official Horse Boot of the USHJA; Rood & Riddle, the Official Equine Hospital and Veterinary Pharmacy; Platinum Performance, title sponsor of the Green Hunter Incentive and International Hunter Derby Championships; The Clothes Horse, the Official Cooler of the Championships; EQSportsNet, the Official Host Broadcast; Hunter Championship Award Sponsors: Essex Classics, FITS Riding, and Shapley's; and Supporting Sponsors Envisian and Nightwatch™.
For more information including the complete schedule, orders of go, and online results for the 2018 Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships, visit
www.ushja.org/GreenChampionship. For more information, including the complete schedule, orders of go and online results for the 2018 Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship, visit
www.ushja.org/IHDChampionship.
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Media Contact:
Megan Lacy
(859) 225-6723
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