Leslie Steele and Alexis Taylor Top the CPHA West Coast Green Hunter Incentive Championships
Alexis Taylor and Fair Enough. Photo by McCool Photography
San Juan Capistrano, CA – September 15, 2024 – The spotlight was on the green hunters on Friday, September 13, at the Blenheim Fall Tournament, and no horses shone brighter than Fair Enough, ridden by Alexis Taylor, and A.W. Too Fly, ridden by Leslie Steele.
Taylor piloted Fair Enough owned by Aleron LLC, to victory in the $16,625 California Professional Horsemen’s Association 3’6”/3’9” Green Hunter Incentive Championship, while Steele and her own A.W. Too Fly earned the win in the $25,935 CPHA 3’/3’3” Green Hunter Incentive Championship.
The championship classes marked the culmination to the season-long Green Hunter Incentive Program, offered by Blenheim EquiSports and the CPHA to reward top green hunters. In the finale, each of the 32 entries competing across the two championships had their turn on the spacious grass Oaks International Grand Prix Field before the top 12 in each championship were invited back for a second round.
In the 3’6”/3’9” Championship, Taylor and the 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding Fair Enough shot to the top of the leaderboard straightway with a score of 91 in the first round. From there, a second-round score of 85 earned them an overall average of 88 and the victory.
Alexis Taylor and Fair Enough. Photo by McCool Photography
Second place with an average score of 87 went to Lindsay Stefanko and Kaskade, and Paige Dendiu and Expressive rounded out the top three with a score of 86.
“I just couldn’t be prouder of [Fair Enough],” said Taylor of the gelding that she’s owned for roughly three years. “My friend Nick Haness imported him, and I met him when he was 4 years old. I fell in love with him then. I knew that someday he was going to be mine. So, I bought him as a 6-year-old, and we’ve been working hard and learning and coming up the ranks, and it’s all really coming together.”
Taylor continued, “I love that [Blenheim EquiSports] put the hunters on the grand prix field for this special class because it’s very rare that we have the opportunity to show in such big, big rings and big venues. It really helps prepare the horses for finals in the future. It’s amazing to have this much prize money in the hunters for an event like this. We’re just incredibly lucky and grateful to have that.”
Following her win aboard A.W. Too Fly, Steele echoed similar sentiments.
Leslie Steele and A.W. Too Fly. Photo by McCool Photography
“[These classes] give people that have young horses something to strive for and people with young horses a reason to keep having young horses and developing them,” said Steele. “They make money; it’s prestigious. I mean, the crowd was great. Everybody was happy for everybody. They clapped for every horse. It was just a really fun class. It’s wonderful that the CPHA wants to support the young horses and all the hunters. Thanks to the CPHA and Blenheim for running such beautiful classes!”
Leslie Steele and A.W. Too Fly. Photo by McCool Photography
For Steele, the win with A.W. Too Fly is extra special, as she is not only developing the 8-year-old Belgian Warmblood, the gelding is also her own homebred.
“I raised him; he was the son of one of my grand prix horses that I jumped the World Cup Final on [A.W. Butterfly Hula],” explained Steele. “He’s one of three of her babies. They’re all wonderful and sweet. He’s by Lamarque, which is one of Barb Ellison’s stallions.”
Leslie Steele and A.W. Too Fly. Photo by McCool Photography
On her way to the win, Steele piloted A.W. Too Fly to a first-round average score of 89. That score, coupled with a second-round score of 91 earned them the victory with a 90 average.
Finishing in second place with a score of 89 were Natalie Rae Medlock and Quaint, and Steele also took home third with a score of 87.5 on Lavender.
“[A.W. Too Fly] is a funny, great horse. He just does whatever you ask of him,” said Steele. “Nothing fazes him. He’s just straightforward, and it makes it really fun.”
For full results of CPHA West Coast Green Hunter Incentive Championships, visit blenheim.showgroundslive.com. To learn more about the CPHA, head to CPHA.org.
Words From the Winners
Click to watch interviews with Alexis Taylor and Leslie Steele!
Watch How They Won
Click each video to watch Alexis Taylor’s and Leslie Steele’s winning rounds!
