See Who Won Blue Ribbons at the Hampton Classic

McLain Ward of Brewster and horse Oh d’ Eole won the $15,000 Prudential Douglas Elliman 1.45m Open Jumper class Thursday at the Hampton Classic Horse Show in Bridgehampton.

Ward, a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, had three mounts in the class: Vocas, owned by Louisburg Farm, Rothchild, owned by Sagamore Farms, and Oh d’ Eole.    

“With my first horse I was just going for a nice round,” Ward said. “I was trying to be competitive with the other two, but with Rothchild I made a little bit of a foolish error. They had a little bit of an angle to a new jump in the jump-off and I tested it a little too hard on him and had a run-out, but I was able to correct it on Oh d’ Eole.”  

Kent Farrington of Chicago, Ill. finished second, and Darragh Kerins of Ridgefield, Conn. was third on Hot Wheels, owned by Miranda Fischer. 

Paulena Johnson, 19, of Wellington, Fla. won the $5,000 Newsday Amateur Owner Jumper (1.40m) class earlier in the day on Quastor Van De Donkhoeve, owned by Paulexi, LLC, in a time of 56.863 seconds. Jay Land of Alpharetta, Ga. and horse Nepal were second in a time of 57.184, and Danielle Cooper of Oyster Bay was third on Kosta with a time of 57.579 seconds.

“This is my first big win here," Johnson said. "I got my horse exactly a year ago and last year this show was my first one with him. And now this was our first time in the High Amateur-Owner class and he won, so I’m very happy.”  

Samantha Schaefer, 18, of Westminster, Md. won the Sam Edelman Equitation Championship for the second consecutive year with a practically perfect final round riding Pioneer, owned by Heritage Farm.

Schaefer received a score of 98 out of 100 points in the final round and would have received a perfect score if it had not been for one minor mistake at the final fence according to Chrystine Tauber, one of the two judges for the class. 

“We just felt that at the last fence that the horse got a little long,” said Tauber. “But Samantha rides with such feel, balance and rhythm and she had great form and style. That was really an exceptional ride. The top four or five riders were also outstanding and managed to put two rounds together that really showed that they belonged in the top group.”

Schaefer was the only rider in the top five who did not have any time faults in the final round, so she had no deductions to her score. 

SAM EDELMAN EQUITATION CHAMPIONSHIP

        RIDER                        HORSE                  RD1    RD2     TOTAL

1. Samantha Schaefer     Pioneer                   95        98        193
2. Chase Scott Boggio     HH Radco                94        83        177
3. Michael Hughes           Co Co Pop               87        88        175
4. Lillie Keenan               Enso                       85        86        171
5. Samantha Kraus          Pissarro                  83        84        167
6. Emma Schauder          A Demain                81        85        166 
7. Charlotte Jacobs          Stallone VDL           82        80        162
8. Victoria Colvin             VIP Z                      86        72        158
9. Christina Gellos           Eso                         74        70        144
10. Sylvia De Toledo          Dallas                      68       69        137