Good and Carano Shine in $15,000 Kentucky Performance Products Hunter Derby

Returning to the Handy Round of the $15,000 Kentucky Performance Products USHJA National Open Hunter Derby on top, Kristjan Good felt ready. “I am very confident in the handy on this horse. More confident than even the first round, so I just wanted to go in and have fun with him. That is when he shines!”

That’s exactly what Good and Alexandra Maletta’s Carano (Cabardino x Rio Grande) did. The pair scored a 91 in the first hunter round of the class, held Friday, December 31, 2025, at the World Equestrian Center – Wilmington in Ohio as part of Winter Classic 8. In the second, Handy Round, they landed a 91.5, for an overall score of 182.5, to capture the win.

Bobby Murphy set the tracks for the class sponsored by Kentucky Performance Products that saw consistent high scores from an initial field of 10 riders.

First Round Confidence

Good, of Kristjan Good Show Stables in Campbellville, Ontario, Canada, felt confident in the class with his tried-and-true mount. Carano is an 11-year-old Warmblood gray gelding. “This horse won here a couple years ago. He is the seasoned veteran in the barn; he is my go-to guy. He is 11 now and we have had him since he was 3.”

The pair won the class in 2023. They also have won several hunter derbies in Canada in the past few years.

Good took the lead in the class as the third to go in the posted order. “It was a fun track today. There were lots of options. You could just be smooth and open. It was a nice galloping course,” Good shared his thoughts on the first round.

For that course, with the fences set at 3’ with 3’5” options, riders jumped 10 fences, including a two-stride in-and-out. The course included four higher-fence options. The Kentucky Performance Products fence, set by itself in the middle of the course on a diagonal, was one of the fences that had a higher option. Other fences on the course included two walls at either end of the arena, long approaches across the diagonal and a bending nine-stride line.

Second Round

The Handy Round of nine fences included a tight rollback turn by the in-gate to a trot fence and a hand gallop to the last jump on course, an oxer. Galloping right into the arena, Good opted for a right lead turn to the Kentucky Performance Products first fence. After the trot jump, the pair continued the course with a consistent canter and strong performance. The pair’s scores from the two rounds were the two highest of the week.

Results

1 Carano, Kristjan Good, Alexandra Maletta | 91 | 91.5 | 182.5
2 Cooper, Emily Corkhill, Decker Equestrian LLC | 88 | 91 | 179
3 Monaco, Madeline Luddy, Madeline Luddy | 84 | 92 | 176
4 Gap Year, Emily Corkhill, Elizabeth Lile | 87 | 87 | 174
5 Lordas 4, Emily Alinen, Susan Benedejcic | 86 | 86 | 172
6 Pura Vida, Melissa Donnelly, Sara North | 83 | 88 | 171
7 Legorado, Emily Corkhill, Anna Gustafson | 80 | 85 | 165
8 Golden De Caverie, Emily Alinen, Spencer Turnblacer | 68 | 69 | 137
9 Storm Chaser, Katie Delano, Stephanie Wiese | 50 | 68 | 118