Evan Coluccio topped a field of 21 starters to win the $10,000 USET Junior/Amateur-Owner Show Jumping Talent Derby Presented by BET On Jazz at the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions Presented by State Line Tack held at the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Olympic Training Center in Gladstone, NJ.
Out of the starting field, only six horse-and-rider combinations went clear in the first round to qualify for the jump-off. Those qualifying for the jump-off were Coluccio of Middleburg, VA, and Jonathan Phillips of Potomac, MD, each on two mounts, Michelle Pia of Landenberg, PA, and Danielle Goldstein of New York, NY.
Coluccio and his second mount in the jump-off, White Russian, a gray stallion owned by Alex Carl, were the last to go and the only pair to complete the jump-off course fault free, in a time of 50.199 seconds. Coluccio was already leading the class with his four-fault performance and a time of 43.249 seconds on Guilt, a horse he co-owns with Ericka Scherer, to finish in second place.
Michelle Pia who also had one knock down on the course for four faults had a slower time of 48.003 seconds, taking third prize behind Coluccio. Goldstein aboard Starwyn Farm's Warren II finished in the fourth position with eight faults and a time of 44.29 seconds. Jonathan Phillips took the fifth and sixth positions with horses that he co-owns with Jeff Phillips. Phillips guided Prins around the jump-off course in a time of 45.246 seconds to take the fifth position and Jewels Idaim to the sixth position with sixteen faults in a time of 41.782 seconds.
