Sophia Mitchell wins Grand Junior Hunter Championship

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Sophia Mitchell of Wrightsville Beach, NC, rode Chevito to the Overall Grand Junior Hunter Championship on Sunday, October 4, to conclude the 2020 Capital Challenge Horse Show, held this year at the World Equestrian Center in Wilmington, OH.

On their way to the overall championship win, Mitchell and her own Chevito first clinched the Large Junior Hunter 3’6”, 16-17 division championship, sponsored by Beacon Hill Show Stables. The duo picked up two wins and a third-place finish over fences, as well a second place under saddle to earn the most points of any Junior Hunter 3’6” competitor at this year’s show.

“I’m so excited! This horse has never let me down ever,” said Mitchell of Chevito, the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding that she has had since early 2019. “He really performed. He gave me his all this week, and I’m so happy with how it went.

?“You can tell when you go in the ring that he wants to win just as much as you do,” continued Mitchell. “To ride him is so nice. He’s so smooth. He has a beautiful jump, but it’s not too hard; it’s just right. Everything about him is just so nice.”

For the Overall Grand Junior Hunter Championship, sponsored by Shadow Ridge, Mitchell was presented with the Spontaneous Perpetual Trophy, donated by the Listrani Family.

Mitchell also received the Best Junior Rider Award, sponsored by Karen Healey, and the overall Leading Junior Hunter 3’6” Rider Award, for which she was presented with a beautiful STX Tackbox, generously donated by STX Vans.
“I looked at the tack trunk at the beginning of the show, and I was like, ‘That’d be so nice to win that; I wish I could win that,’” said Mitchell of her winning prize. “I never actually thought I would. I’m so excited! It’s so cool.”

Mitchell has trained with Val Renihan of Findlay’s Ridge LLC for the past two years, and this year also marks the young rider’s second year competing at Capital Challenge.

“I’m so grateful to Val for finding Chevito,” said Mitchell. “He’s a once-in-a-lifetime horse, and training with her has been amazing. I’ve really improved a lot. She works so hard to make us as prepared as we can be when we go to show. With him, for me a lot of what we work on is just relaxing right before the jump so that he can give the best jump possible and keeping a nice rhythm all the way through, the same rhythm.”

Finishing behind Mitchell and Chevito as the reserve champions in the Large Junior Hunter 3’6”, 16-17 division were Ellie Ferrigno of Newtown, CT, and Mercy Me, owned by Donald Stewart.

?In the Large Junior Hunter 3’6”, 15 & Under division, the championship, sponsored by Cheryl Olsten, went to Alexa Elle Lignelli of New York, NY, and High Society, owned by the Lignelli Family. For the win, Lignelli was presented with the Lafitte de Muze Trophy, sponsored by Cheryl Olsten. The reserve champion title was awarded to Augusta Iwasaki of Calabasas, CA, and Lion, owned by Davlyn Farms.

Two new Small Junior Hunter 3’6” champions were also named on Sunday, with the 15 & Under division championship, sponsored by New England Farm, going home with Lignelli and Miller’s Cove, owned by Balmoral. The 16-17 division championship, sponsored by Three Ships LLC, went to Christopher Coberley of Temperance, MI, and No Introduction, owned by Fox Meadow Farm.

?The reserve championships in the Small Junior Hunter 3’6” 15 & Under and 16-17 divisions went to Henry Healy of Cincinnati, OH, and Reston, owned by Susan Moriconi, and Isha Swani of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, and Bond, owned by Shadowfax Equestrian LLC, respectively.

Swani and Bond also earned the win in the $5,000 World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Junior 3’6” Challenge, sponsored by Nicole Lyvere & Finally Home Farm.

The Best EMO Junior 3’6” Trip of the Show, sponsored by the EMO Agency, went to Lignelli and High Society with a score of 90.5.