Horzepa Races to Top Grand Prix Finish, Viera Vies for Derby Victory at Saratoga Summer Celebration

The Saratoga Summer Celebration featured four days of premier competition from July 17-20, 2025, at White Hollow Farm in Stillwater, NY. On Friday, July 18, Amber Viera rose to the top in the $15,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, riding Libellule for Laura Fyfe. On Saturday, July 19, Wilhelmina Horzepa and Nicole Iannarone’s Mac Mittens were quick and clear to top the $25,000 Saratoga Grand Prix.

Mac Mittens, an eight-year-old KWPN gelding, came to Iannarone and Horzepa a year ago with the name “Mac,” but the big, loveable horse is more frequently dubbed “Mittens” and can often be found trying to steal tools from the farriers working nearby his stall. Despite his playful personality, the young horse by Don Diablo HX has proved that he can hold his own in the show ring, having added two grand prix wins to his resume already this season.

“He is a competitive horse, and he has a lot of good qualities. He always wants to do the right thing. He's just a little big and gangly, so it's taken him time to learn how to be quick,” explained Horzepa. “I feel like he has better natural balance now that he's growing up. He's quite careful. He's a very brave horse, and for his size, he is handy. I just want to take my time with making him quick and not overdo it as a youngster.”

As one of only two combinations to advance to the jump-off in the $25,000 Saratoga Grand Prix, Horzepa and “Mittens” set an unbeatable pace of 34.862 seconds to take the lead by more than a full second.

“I tend to be, I'd say by nature, a quick rider without necessarily trying to be quick, so my goal was obviously to aim to be clean, but to try to be a little quick through the beginning of the jump off, and that way, we really could just be balanced and take our time up the last line.”

Jennifer Jones and Lord Almé, owned by Jonna Esser, crossed the timers in 36.295 seconds in the jump-off to take second place. Robert Lee steered his Brook Run Farm LLC’s MTM Logo to third with just one rail down in the first round.

Horzepa also won the $2,500 Welcome Stake earlier in the week, altogether marking a successful first visit to White Hollow Farm for the rider based out of Allentown, NJ. She said, “I'm lucky that I've been having a good year. My horses have been performing really well, and I think when you're on that sort of momentum, it’s easier to maintain it. I'm grateful that this facility and this course worked for my horses, and I felt I was able to get that done.”

Jumping isn’t Horzepa’s only talent, though. She attributes her speediness to her secondary career as a barrel racer, and she even pulled the late shift riding at a nearby rodeo the same weekend as the Saratoga Summer Celebration. She explained that the two disciplines are complementary as rodeos typically run in the evenings after the hunter/jumper shows have finished for the day.

“As a rider, I've always tried to be well-versed,” she shared. “I've tried to do everything I could possibly learn on a horse. I’m probably first and foremost a jumper rider — I have to think a little bit more about barrel racing, but I do enjoy it and have rodeoed competitively now for probably 16 years.”

Viera Vies for Victory in $15,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby

Amber Viera, of Acushnet, MA, piloted Libellule to the win during the seven-year-old gelding’s hunter derby debut. Though his hunter career in the United States only just began earlier this year, the Selle Français gelding by Tresor De Virton has had a strong start in the three-foot Green Hunter division with Viera as well as the Adult Hunter division with his owner, Laura Fyfe.

Viera shared that the gelding has a natural talent for the hunter discipline and rose to Friday’s challenge with grace. “He is a beautiful mover,” she described. “He's beautiful to watch move across the ring, and you can pick up a nice gallop and just hunt your way around. He jumps a spectacular jump, but he's not a very big horse. He's just barely 15.3.”

Contrary to his short stature, “Luca” brings a big personality to the show ring. “His ego is huge. We always joke that he has that Napoleon complex,” Viera laughed. “He's very full of himself, so the derby was a fun challenge for us. We were really excited to try our hand at this, and we are thrilled with the result. He couldn't have been better, and he really stepped up to the plate for us.”

The pair dominated the first round, earning the highest score of 92. Viera felt the course was built perfectly for the class, recalling, “There was a lot of room to gallop and show off the canter and plenty of jump fill to really back the horses off and get them jumping a great jump.”

Returning for the handy round in the top spot, Viera planned her track with Luca’s inexperience in mind. She admitted, “We were trying to be conservative and give him the best opportunity we could to jump an even, straight jump out of the canter rhythm. There were so many fun inside turns and rollback options in the course, but I tried to give him a calm, positive experience and not get too excited going for every available turn.” This proved to be the right recipe, and the pair secured a score of 87 for their efforts.

With a final overall score of 179, Viera and Luca proved victorious. Morgan McCarthy claimed second place aboard her own Ino-K Van’t Kattenheye Z with a total score of 173. Third place was awarded to Dominique Mungin and her own Reunion, finishing with a score of 172.

Reflecting on her experience at White Hollow Farm, Viera revealed that she had visited earlier in the spring and wanted to make the venue a stop in their summer schedule. She elaborated, “We came in May, and we had such a great time. When this week was added, we decided to pop back in. Compared to other venues we've been to, Saratoga does a phenomenal job with the course design, and the footing is absolutely perfect. We're just so impressed every time we come here.”

Saratoga Horse Shows continue in August with the Saratoga Summer Special Outreach Festival on August 8-10 and the Saratoga Summer Show on August 13-17.

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For more information on the Saratoga Horse Shows, visit www.saratogahorseshows.com.