John French Pilots Six-Year-Old Quentin to the Win in the Inaugural Blanheim Young Hunter Championship

San Juan Capistrano, CA – Some of the sport’s brightest young hunters competed in the inuaugural two-round $10,000 Blenheim EquiSports Young Hunter Championship, presented by Brookway Stables. With an average score of 85.5, six-year-old Quentin, piloted by John French and owned by junior rider Charlotte Murray, looked like a seasoned campaigner to emerge the winner. It was a five-year-old, Shama Alghurair’s Holland, who finished second (average 83.25), with Katie Taylor aboard, and Karli Postel rode seven-year-old Meant To Be, owned by Karin Binz, to round out the top three.

Aligning with their mission of offering an opportunity to develop future stars, Blenheim EquiSports launched the Young Hunter Series this year. Since the spring season, the young hunter classes at each Blenheim EquiSports show were free and stall fees were discounted. Trainers and owners jumped on the unique opportunity to get additional and affordable mileage for their horses. The Young Hunter Championship wrapped up the popular series, with East Coast horsemen Timmy Kees and Otis Brown Jr. as the judging panel and Jason Shelley designing the courses.

John French explained that Quentin’s owners, Charlotte Murray and her trainer, Jeni Brown, consider this to be a very special program. French also had high praise: “I love how it spotlights these horses and gives the horses and their owners nice recognition. I think it will do a lot to encourage owners to get young hunters.”

Along with leading the victory gallop, Quentin was the highest placing six-year-old, and owner Charlotte Murray received a Blenheim EquiSports cooler, a beautiful pewter trophy, prize money and a pewter picture frame with a gift certificate to McCool Photography, presented by Balmoral Farm.

French earned the Leading Gentleman Award, taking home a handsome Fidir briefcase, and also the Blue Ribbon Blankets embroidered coolerette as the winning trainer.