Dressage-News

WAYNE, Illinois, Aug. 19, 2020–Kerrigan Gluch and the American-bred P.R.E. Vaquero HGF won the Under-25 “Brentina Cup” Grand Prix Wednesday to lead to a showdown with Sara Hassler and Harmony’s Boitano in the freestyle Friday to decide the United States championship.

Endel Ots and Sonnenberg’s Everdance won the Intermediate 1 to tighten the hold on the championship that would be the rider’s second straight national Intermediate 1 title.

Kerrigan and the 13-year-old gelding scored 68.744% to win the Grand Prix with Sara and Boitano second on 67.487% and to come within 0.118 of Sara at the top of the Festival of Champions leaderboard.

The placing of the two combinations, both based in Wellington, Florida, were the reverse of the Intermediate II. Sara and the 15-year-old KWPN won the opening competition on 69.853% with Kerrigan and Vaquero second on 68.147%. The percentages assigned for each result put Sara on 58.31 and Kerrigan on 58.192.

Kerrigan, 23 years old, graduated from Florida Atlantic University last week with a business degree.  

Vaquero was bred at Hampton Green Farm in Fruitport, Michigan, sired by Cuatrero IU. The horse was sent to Spain where Jose Daniel Martin Dockx was successful in young horse classes before returning to the U.S.

In 2015, Kerrigan began competing Vaquero for Hampton Green whose owner Kimberly van Kampen led the U.S. PRE group. The pair earned bronze at the North American Young Rider Championships that year.

Kerrigan and Vaquero were on the U.S. young rider team that competed in Europe in 2016. The pair also competed in the Under-25 division at the festival in 2019. At the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, they were on the “Star Spangled” U25 Nations Cup team that took silver.

Sara Hassler, who is coached by her father, Scott, the former U.S. young horse coach, rode Boitano in the Intermediate 1 division at the 2019 festival. Boitano is owned by Leslie Malone who owns Harmony Sporthorses in Kiowa, Colorado.

In the Intermediate 1, Endel Ots and Sonnenberg’s Everdance, 11-year-old U.S.-bred KWPN mare, scored 75.441% for the victory and with a win in the opening round Prix St. Georges extended the lead for the championship with only the freestyle left. Endel won the title in 2019 on Lucky Strike.

David Blake of Cardiff on the Sea, California and Heide Spirit placed second on 72.559 Wednesday to move the duo into overall second while Callie Jones of Henderson, Kentucky and Don Philippo were third on 69.823%.

Under-25 Brentina Cup Grand Prix 

Intermediate 1