“I am very, very happy to win this class,” said Ritter after his win in the Derby, a member event of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series. “My goal was to come here and finish at least third.”

This was a lofty goal considering that Ritter had only been riding his mare for four weeks. Additionally, he and Qroqant Z finished in the middle of the pack with eight faults in Friday’s qualifier. This time around, the pair went clean to be one of only six that made it into the jump-off. Ritter was first in the order, which he thought was to his advantage.

“I was going to go as fast as I could without knocking any rails,” said Ritter. I wanted to put pressure on the rest of the riders to catch up. I knew I had Brianne (Goutal) going after me and the other day she took three seconds off everyone else’s time.”

Brianne Goutal of New York, NY and Onira, the top qualifiers in the Final, took third in the class with a clear round and a time of 42.878. Goutal had the additional distinction of receiving the prestigious Shalanno Farms Junior Jumper Style of Riding Award.

“I am really honored to receive this award,” said Goutal who won individual and team Gold Medals at this summer’s CN North American Young Riders’ Championships. “I felt my horse jumped amazingly well and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

Addison Phillips of New York, NY, who won individual Silver and team Gold at Young Riders, gave everyone a scare on her first of two horses that she qualified for the jump-off. Going into the final fence, they left out a stride and fell. Phillips dusted herself off and then amazed the crowd with a courageous ride on her other horse, Flight, finishing fault-free in a time of 42.598 for second place.

The Hampton Classic is a benefit event for Southampton Hospital.

Some Hampton Classic classes can be seen live online at www.wvvh.tv.

For more information on the Hampton Classic Horse Show, please visit the Hampton Classic website at www.hamptonclassic.com or call (631) 537-3177.