BW Callista, Up to Date, Catapult Win 2006 U.S. Young Horse Championships

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2006 U.S. Young Horse Championships

The 4-year old BW Callista, the 5-year old Up to Date and the 6-year olds Catapult and Brigadier became the winners of the 2006 U.S. Young Horse Championships in Lexington, KY, U.S.A., on 6 - 8 September 2024.

The 2006 U.S. Young Horse championships included a 4-year-old division for the first time since its inception in 2004. Of the 55 horses who qualified for the Championships and made the trip to Kentucky, 15 were 6-year-olds, 20 5-year-olds, and 20 4-year olds.

4-YO: BW Callista

The 4-year old championship consisted of an optional warm-up round and a finals on Saturday which determined the champion. Fifteen of the 20 entries chose to participate in the warm-up.

Tami Glover and the Oldenburg mare BW Callista (by Contucci out of Ariane, by A Jungle Prince), bred by Linda Santomenna of Blue Waters Farm in Chesapeake City, MD and owned by Leslie Valente, won the warm-up with 8.54 points and the finals with 9.0. The mare also earned the highest-placed U.S.-bred award for the division.

5-YO: Up to Date

The 42-year old Jan Brons piloted Pieter Ruig's KWPB bred Up to Date (by Flemmingh out of Ola) to the title after placing second in the preliminary test with 8.32 points and winning the Finals test with 8.45 points. Brons is a Dutch born professional rider who became a U.S. citizen in 2001.

The top 12 from the preliminary 5-year-old test automatically advanced to Sunday’s final, with the remaining eight entries competing in the consolation final on Saturday. The finals test counted for 60 percent of the final score. The top two from the consolation class also advanced to the final test.

The 24-year old Jessica Rizzi and Therese Elron's Oldenburg mare Gisele (by Welt Hit I out of Ellie) won the preliminary round with 8.40 points and placed second in the final round with 8.04 points. They finished as reserve champions.

The recipient of the highest-placed U.S.-bred award in this division was Leopold Q, a bay, Hanoverian gelding (by Loerke out of elite mare Felicitious), bred by Suzanne Quarles. Ridden by Jules Anderson, he finished ninth overall with a score of 7.52 for owner Dianne Anderson.

6-YO: Catapult and Brigadier

In an unprecendented feat two 6-year old winners were crowned. David Blake and the Holsteiner Catapult (by Cantour out of Hell or Highwater) and David Wightman on the Oldenburg gelding Brigadier (by Batido out of Lady Deco) both landed an overall score of 7.956 points after two rounds.

In case of a tie the U.S.-bred horse will take the championship, but both were bred in the U.S.A. The decision then fell to the ground jury. When the math was over, the horses still stood equal, and co-championships were awarded, both for the division and for highest placed U.S.-bred.

Catapult is bred and owned by Susan Randall, while Brigadier is bred by Pag Hinds and owned by Deena Smith. The latter horse represented the U.S.A. at the World Young Horse Championships in Verden, earlier in August, where they placed 9th in the 6-year old consolation finals.

Third place went to Pamela Doolittle of Masomanie, WI riding her own Cobra (by Contucci out of Work of Art by Wallstreet Kid).