The new year is looking to be a winning one for Wellington’s Jimmy Torano, and Laskano, owned by Isalou, Inc. The pair christened their Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) season by taking the blue in Friday’s $25,000 USHJA 2* International Hunter Derby, presented by MARS Equestrian™, during opening week, after winning the same class in 2023.
In classic derby format, two panels of judges tallied their scores for the first round, determining which twelve riders – of the original eighteen – would return for the handy track. Torano’s combined first round score of 190 sent him to the top of the leaderboard and in perfect standing for the handy phase.
The top-twelve riders returned to conquer the handy, which included a series of high options, a trot fence and ample opportunity to show off tighter turns, a specialty of Torano and Laskano.