Flying Out Of The Santa Fe Summer Series

$10,000 Santa Fe Welcome Stake Results

$5,000 1.20m AOHCJI CHALLENGE

A NEW KIND OF JUMPER CHALLENGE

Saturday’s inaugural AOHCJI Challenge brought new prize money and excitement to the 1.20m level. Although the new class was created with serious intent to support the development of young horses and upcoming riders, HIPICO still infused fun into it by naming the class with an inscrutable acronym. A separate contest was held to see who could guess the title. A few came close but the mystery title remains unsolved and the contest will continue next year. Luckily, the competitors proved to be much better riders than they are guessers!

With fifteen entries ready to take on the challenge—Trapp O’Neal, Chenoa McElvain, and Sydney Luzicka prevailed! Trapp O’Neal was fast and furious on Elle Fortuna-MS, owned by Marieke Slik. He sliced, galloped, and spun around the turns to catch the quickest jump off time of 42.54. This is the second specialty class of the Summer Series that O’Neal has swept aboard Elle Fortuna-MS, after he captured the blue in Santa Fe Fiesta Week’s BMW/MINI Cooper Ride-&-Drive.

Chenoa McElvain, aboard Daphne RC, had the need for speed, executing tight turns with the pedal to the metal in the jump-off. And Sydney Luzicka booked it to every jump, unfortunately knocking a rail in the jump-off, finishing as the fastest four faulter.

The 1.20m AOHCJI Challenge is another new initiative introduced this year, with an eye toward building a challenge series at multiple heights. Stay tuned for new offerings next year!

$5,000 1.20m AOHCJI Challenge Results

A FIERCE BATTLE OF THE FLAGS

NEW MEXICO FLIES AT THE TOP

Four states, four teams and sixteen riders boiled down to just two—as Matt Cyphert from Texas and Trapp O’Neal from New Mexico faced off to break the tie and claim the fame of raising their home state’s flag on the Grand Prix Field.

Although most of the riders participating are also the best of friends,the competition was fierce and the pep was palpable. The participants certainly don’t lack a sense of humor! After many stolen shirts, graffitied golf carts and a rousing group text later, the competitors were stoked for the Battle of the Flags. During the course walk, the Texas team revved around the Grand Prix Field in a camouflage colored 4×4, blasting tunes native to the Lone Star State and flying the Texas flag.

Cyphert bought his team matching Texas flag polos. When Colorado, New Mexico, and California caught wind of this, they elevated their game! Each team came to the arena with matching outfits. California wore red sashes, New Mexico rocked bright yellow t-shirts with the Zia symbol on the front, and Colorado wore hand-painted Colorado logo shirts with funny sayings on the back to rib Texas, “The only thing louder than Texas is Matt” and “Good thing Texas can golf!”

Sarah Echols, New Mexico team’s unofficial cheerleader, screamed, “Viva Nuevo Mexico!” at the end of her round after earning the first point for Team New Mexico on Converse Point. As she exited the ring, her husband ran across the field waving the New Mexico Flag. A flurry of little girls in the VIP Lounge ran into the arena with handmade paper New Mexico flags to celebrate the point. After Michael Elmore and Trapp O’Neal’s clear rounds, a unicorn sprinted in front of the spectator tent waving a New Mexico flag!

At the end of the day, splitting seconds, the state which soared to the top was New Mexico. Trapp O’Neal broke the tie by about a quarter of a second in the 1.20m jump-off, leaving Texas in the dust and a tie between Colorado and California for third place. The winning team’s bright yellow shirts were blinding as they hoisted the Land of Enchantment flag to the top of the flagpole! Laughing and jabbing the other teams playfully, Sarah Echols joked, “All we wanted to do was beat Texas,” and Trapp O’Neal followed with, “This is our home ground—we gotta keep it in New Mexico!”

THE WIENER RACE FINALE & SUPER FUN PUBLIC SAFETY SATURDAY

The final Chorizo Wiener Races proved to be as entertaining and hysterical as the first! Lily Echols and Porky McElvain were poised for another perfect set of races Saturday.

The two races had the crowd at the edge of the fence, practically falling overboard to set eyes on the tiny dogs darting across the field. With Sharon McElvain at the wheel of the four-wheeler, the first Dachshund race commenced! The racers rarely have a straight track to the finish, so after some swerving and bumping—the winning Wiener crossed the finish line. Porky proved too fast for the field and took the dog basket prize again! There’s no doubt Porky will enjoy chowing down on the fun treats and toys in his winning basket, kindly sponsored by Marty’s Meals, The Critters and Me and Tullivers.

The second race sent another familiar winner to the top! Sarah Echols, of Invicta Farms, and her husband Lance proudly raised their pup to the sky as Lily won the mixed-breed race again. For an older lady, she sure runs fast! The couple’s other dog, Luke, who is a fan-fave and usually sports an outfit, took second place just behind his sister. “Last week Luke was sabotaged with his costume, which was ripped off his back [during the race], so we didn’t do that again!”, said Sarah, with Lance quickly adding, “The jockey got kidnapped by another dog!” The couple prepared their pups for the race with Hatch green chile hamburgers! With a year to train, will Luke upset his sister in 2019? Who will challenge the Champion Wiener, Porky? We have to wait an entire year to find out…

In attendance  at the Santa Fe Summer Series’ signature race was Greg Lynch, serving as the official scorekeeper of the races. As an honorable guest of HIPICO Santa Fe in celebration of Public Safety Saturday, Lynch enthusiastically called the winner of both races.

Announcing the Dachshund race winner, he yelled, “Porky is the winner! Or dare I say Wiener?!” Lynch is a Santa Fe native who works for the 911 Call Center, the central dispatch for many agencies, including: Santa Fe County Fire Department, Santa Fe Fire Department, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Fe Police Department and Edgewood Police Department. “We have a lot of agencies, so it was great to be represented here; it’s the start of a bigger picture. We’re talking about some more public safety days at [HIPICO Santa Fe] where everyone gets involved. We’d like to do something similar to the Battle of the Flags with all the agencies to get that friendly competition and spirit going. It’s a good thing to spearhead—I’m happy to be in on the ground floor!”, said Lynch. For Lynch, it’s a honor to represent public safety and he had a “blast” getting to call the winner of both heats of the dog races.

GRAND PRIX DE SANTA FE

CHENOA MCELVAIN BUCKLED DOWN

 A BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR AWARD WINNERS!

HEART OF THE HORSE

Annie Veenstra turned 14 years old this week and celebrated by riding in the $5,000 National Hunter Derby aboard Alexandria Williams’ WT Levioso. For the first time, she proceeded to the handy round of a Derby and just as her family and trainers were proud of her that day—they repeated the sentiment as she accepted the Heart of the Horse Award on Sunday. Annie has shown at the Santa Fe Summer Series since the beginning—evolving as a rider over the last four years from ponies, to large ponies, riding her mother’s horse last summer and now, leasing WT Levioso to show in the 3’0” Children’s Hunter Division.

“Levi is my overgrown pony! He’s my first hunter horse. I did my first Children’s Hunter course on him back in November. I just did my first derby in Scottsdale,” said Veenstra, who is grateful to Jill and Alexandria Williams for allowing her to lease the Holsteiner gelding for the summer.

Caroline Invicta Stevenson was nearly in tears describing how proud she is of her student. “I always believed in her and I believe in this horse. I knew she could do it. Being here all through the weeks—she’s improved and improved and improved. We’re all very happy for her. And [Annie’s] demeanor in the warm-up ring and going into the ring—no matter if she made a mistake or had a stop or something happened—is amazing. She’s never blamed the horse. It was always ‘I made a mistake’ or ‘I can make it better’ and that’s what we like about her.” Both Caroline and Sarah Invicta Williams-Echols are proud to see their student’s growing ability and thrilled that she won this award.

HUNTER RIDER OF THE WEEK

Nada Wise, Rendezvous Farm, TX

JUMPER RIDER OF THE WEEK

Natascha Gates, Plum Creek Hollow Farm, CO

TRAINER OF THE WEEK

Meredith Houx Remiger, Sandia Farm, NM

GROOMS OF THE WEEK

Jorge Flores & Jesus Vazquez, Invicta Farms, NM

THANK YOU QUEENIE
PRODUCTIONS!

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