DEL MAR — Thirty-one duos galloped around the grand prix field July 31 in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Del Mar Horse Park. When thirteen returned for a challenging handy round, it was young professional Nick Haness and his mount Gelato, owned by Conor Perrin, who earned the top score. Forbes and Jenny Karizissis took reserve.

Given the 2010/2011 qualifying season’s new scoring, each of the 4’ options jumped was automatically awarded one point, so up to four points were added to both set of judges’ scores.

Sitting third after the first round, Haness and Gelato managed the trot fence, snake jumps and hand gallop with ease, earning the highest handy total of 202. Going in last, Geller can certainly be proud of her first round performance aboard Fabricio; however, an unfortunate rail on the handy course bumped her to seventh position with a score of 239 overall. It was Gelato’s impressive trip that brought their total to 378 overall, four points above Forbes for the win.