HITS Saugerties: Allison Joyce and Boccaccio Win $250,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix Final at HITS Championship

Source: News Release

Allison Joyce and Boccaccio Win $250,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix Final at HITS Championship

Saugerties, NY: Proving perseverance pays off, Allison Joyce of Medway, Massachusetts, and Boccaccio, owned by Nicole Manoog, emerged triumphant after their first time competing in the four-round, Platinum Performance $250,000 Hunter Prix Final. They consistently topped the field in all four rounds to take home the $75,000 share of the prize purse.

“I’m so excited to win this class, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Joyce. “I just started riding [Boccaccio] in July. When I knew I was going to need a horse to ride, I was able to start leasing him and gearing up for the final. He’s an adorable horse and loves his job.”

After Friday’s two preliminary rounds, over a course designed by Rian Beals of Saugerties, the top 25 competitors moved on to Saturday’s two-round challenge. All of the riders were hungry for a win, but only the top four would return for one last test to prove who would reign supreme. Joyce and Boccaccio had brought their A-game throughout the weekend, claiming the lead in both the third and final rounds by over ten points.

Joyce and Boccaccio finished the third round with a total score of 175 from Judging Panel A and Panel B to go into the final round with the lead. They captured a final round score of 172, for their ultimate winning total of 347.

“The course was incredible and it had a variety of challenges and options each day. It flowed very nicely and on some days it allowed the horses to be bolder, which is nice for the hunters,” said Joyce. “This is a class that gives horses and riders an excellent opportunity. I’m very thankful to the whole Grazing Fields Farm family, as well as Nicole Manoog and Brooke Dolan for letting me ride their horses.”

Libby Lestage of Manchester, Massachusetts, went home with second place piloting Custom Made. Lestage and her mount finished the third round with a score of 165 for third place going into the final round; they prevailed in the final with a score of 168 for a total of 333.

Aya Clear of Piedmont, California, traveled cross-country to participate in the prestigious final. She rode Fenway to a score of 168 in the third round, which gave them the second highest score heading in to challenge the final four. They made it out with a score of 160 in the final round for a total of 328, and the ultimate third place prize.

Tracie Glicker and Redford, captured the final spot in the top four. After going into the final round with their score of 165, they scored 143 to earn a total of 308 for a nice fourth-place payout.

Place	Horse	Rider	Owner	Prize	Rd. 3/Final	Total
1	Boccaccio	Nicole Manoog	Allison Joyce	$75,000	175/172	347
2	Custom Made	Libby Lestage	Libby Lestage	$45,000	165/168	333
3	Fenway	Aya Clear	Aya Clear	$30,000	168/160	328
4	Redford	Tracie Glicker	Tracie Glicker	$20,000	165/143	308
5	Carla	Cara Garito	Cara Garito	$12,500	165	165
6	Quantonius	Devin Vega	Nicole Peterson	$10,000	164.5	164.5
7	Kavalier	Corinne Milbury	Corinne Milbury	$7,500	161.25	161.25
8	Contina	Jacquelyn Maggiore	Jacquelyn Maggiore	$6,000	160.5	160.5
9	Cayetano	Morgan Champey	MDHT Equestrian, LLC.	$5,000	160.5	160.5
10	On Board	Stone McCromick	Bernadette Mulliken	$4,500	157	157
11	Eternity	Leigh Gallagher	Tibri, LLC.	$4,000	155	155
12	Brugge	Katie Lee	Grace Upshaw	$3,500	154	154
13	Lorentin	Linda Corvari	Linda Corvari	$3,000	153	153
14	Gabriel	Aya Clear	Aya Clear	$3,000	152	152
15	Paramount	Amy Lloyd Thompson	Amy Lloyd Thompson	$2,500	151	151
16	Chestnut Hill	Allison Joyce	Marissa Dolan	$2,500	150	150
17	Chacos	Marisa Henry	Marisa Henry	$2,500	142	142
18	Priority	Lindsay Stokes	Lindsay Stokes	$2,000	142	142
19	Indulgence	Jody Ruth	Powerstone Farm, LLC	$2,000	142	142
20	Whisper	Alexa Bayko	Monica Hunt	$2,000	141.5	141.5
21	On Top	Emma Witham	Donald Stewart	$1,500	138	138
22	Sea Walker	Nicole Oliynyk	Nicole Oliynyk	$1,500	136	136
23	Anucci	Jess Lusty	Jess Lusty	$1,500	134	134
24	Valmont	Abigail Lefkowitz	Abigail Lefkowitz	$1,500	129	129
25	Exclusive	Sydney Degrazia	Sydney Degrazia	$1,500	113	113