Grace Socha Wins Junior/Amateur-Owner Hunter Classic at Horse Shows by the Bay
Equestrian News Release

Traverse City, MI - July, 22, 2007 - On the final day of Horse Shows by the Bay I, the Polk Family Main Hunter Ring featured the $1,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Hunter Classic. Grace Socha piloted Amigo F to the victory with a combined score of 162.5 points. Godiva and Becky Gochman were right behind them in second place with 162 points. Kels Bonham and Urlala, the Grand Junior Hunter Champion, were third.

The classic consisted of two rounds with the top twelve from the first round returning for the second. "The courses rode nice, I could have had a nicer jump in the first class to the first jump but he was great, he went around perfect," said Socha. Earlier in the week, Socha and Amigo F, owned by Victoria Calantoni, won the Large Junior Hunters 16-17 Championship. The pair will show again next week at Horse Shows by the Bay II before heading home for a couple weeks.

Earlier in the day, Rachel Geiger rode her 15-year-old Hanoverian, Midnight Date, to the Amateur Owner 18-35 tricolor. "I got him to some bad distances but he dealt with it. He's pretty perfect," Geiger explained. Geiger also received the division's reserve championship with Aeropostale.

In the Amateur-Owner Hunter 36 and Over, Lynn Walsh earned a total of 36 points and the division tricolor riding her MacArthur Park. Gochman guided Godiva to the reserve championship.

The Adult Amateur Hunters also awarded their champions today. Split into three sections, the younger adults, 18-35, went first. Annie Frazier on Pompidou and Katie Polk on Eminem acquired the same amount of points over the division's five classes and a hack-off decided who took home the championship. "[The hack-off] was pretty funny because Katie [Polk] and I are in the same barn. We didn't really know what to do. In the rule book you have to hack off so there we went," explained Frazier. In the end, Frazier and Pompidou edged out Polk and Eminem for the victory.

Other champions include Laura Beckworth and Bliss in the Adult Amateur Hunters 36-50 and Mary Helper and Engaged in the Adult Amateur Hunters Over 50. Beth Graves rode Westview to the reserve championship in the 36-50 section while David Lubben and Fortuitous received the 50 and Over reserve championship.

Horse Shows by the Bay II begins Wednesday, July 25, 2007.

For complete results, please visit http://www.horseshowing.com.


PHOTO CREDIT: Grace Socha and Amigo F at Horse Shows by the Bay I. Photo (C) 2007 Randi Muster.