Hampton Classic Horse Show Opening Day competition results. See programs for the week below .

 The beauty and grace of the jumpers is ondisplay in Bridgehampton this week. See details below!

Blake Takes Top Honors in $30,000 1.40m Jumper Challenge Benefitting the Kevin Babington Foundation at 2026 Hampton Classic

Goutal-Marteau Wins $10,000 Marders Local Hunter Derby for Second Consecutive Year

Bridgehampton, NY – August 23, 2026 – Twenty-seven entries contested the first of Nick Granat’s courses on Sunday at the 2026 Hampton Classic, kicking off a weeklong schedule of competition with the $30,000 1.40m Jumper Challenge benefitting the Kevin Babington Foundation(KBF). Following the initial 15-effort track and a return over the Winning Round tiebreaker, Ireland’s David Blake emerged victorious with Gucci Des Embruns (0/0/45.754).  Celebrating 51 years of world-class equestrian competition in Bridgehampton, NY, the Hampton Classic features FEI CSI5* and CSI2* show jumping and USEF Premier hunter competitions with more than $1 million in prize money, August 23-30. As a designated benefit class for the KBF, a portion of each horse’s Jumper Challenge entry fee was given directly to the Foundation; the donation totaled $4,500. The KBF was created in 2019 to provide funding and support for equestrian show jumping athletes who sustain spinal injuries. In addition to providing financial assistance, the Foundation strives to educate riders, trainers and show organizers about the most current safety measures designed to reduce the risk of serious injuries that can occur while riding.

David Blake (IRL) and Gucci Des Embruns took top honors in the $30,000 1.40m Jumper Challenge  © KindMedia

Just one day after his third-place finish in the $65,000 Old Salem Farm 2* Grand Prix, Blake led the victory lap for the Hampton Classic’s $30,000 Jumper Challenge. He and Pine Hollow Farm’s 10-year-old Selle Français gelding were one of only three horse-and-rider combinations to go double clear, blazing to the top of the leaderboard in 45.754 seconds. They were nearly two seconds faster than their fellow competitors.  “I’m delighted it was an Irish win,” Blake said. “It was brilliant. I was a little surprised [with our speed], actually. He’s a naturally quick horse; his foot speed is very good, and I thought my track was very good. I couldn’t be happier with him. We just came from Old Salem, but we sent this horse to the Hampton Classic especially for this class. We also plan to do the 2* Grand Prix next Sunday.” Americans Peter Lutz and Molly Ashe Cawley rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively. Lutz finished on a double-clear score of 47.568 seconds aboard Katriona, Lovsta Stuteri’s 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare. Ashe Cawley stopped the clock on a fault-free time of 48.196 seconds aboard La Rosso Lady, Louisburg Farm’s 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare.

Blake and Gucci Des Embruns © KindMedia

In the Aspinall Hunter Ring, 34 entries starred in the $10,000 Marders Local Hunter Derby, which saw a classic two-round format judged by David Beisel. Scores were averaged between the initial 10-effort track and ensuing eight-effort handy round. Riding to the top of the leaderboard for the second consecutive year was Brianne Goutal-Marteau of Annapolis, MD, this time piloting Irene Neuwirth’s Daffodil (89.25 points).  “It’s always a different strategy when you have the handy as a second round,” Goutal-Marteau said. “Daffodil is an amazing mare. She’s young and, more importantly, very green for these classes. The strategy for her was to coax her into understanding what we’re looking for. We competed to try to win, but also to train and set her up for the next week as well. I love doing this class, and I think it’s a great opportunity to get the horses out here. This horse was a star today; she is a real champion. I think there is a lot of runway in terms of what she’s going to do with her owner in the future.”  Meghan Knapic of Smithtown, NY, and First Blue LLC’s Bellagio Blue took second with 87.5 points. Justine Ryan’s Monalisa finished third on an 87-point score with Laura Bowery of Bridgehampton, NY, in the irons; Monalisa also earned the Ross Reisner Memorial Trophy as the Best Turned Out Horse in the Derby.

Brianne Goutal-Marteau and Daffodil won the $10,000 Marders Local Hunter Derby © KindMedia

For live show results, visit HamptonClassic.com. Photos from the event are available via Dropbox with credits to KindMedia (unless otherwise noted in the folder name).   Each year, approximately 50,000 people – including many A-list celebrities – come to watch the nation’s best equestrian athletes compete at the Hampton Classic Horse Show. Rated USEF ‘Premier-6’ for hunters and jumpers with designated FEI 2* and 5* jumping classes, the Hampton Classic features more than 200 competitions in six spectacular show rings, the Agneta Currey Boutique Garden with more than 70 vendors, and a wide selection of dining options, all on its world-class 60-acre showgrounds.   FEI competition begins on Thursday, August 27, with the $5,000 Citarella Open Jumper CSI2* and $32,000 CSI5* BrainJuice Two-Phase and continues throughout the weekend with seven 2*/5* classes featuring courses designed by Nick Granat (USA) and Anderson Lima (BRA). FEI competition also includes Friday’s $32,000 Wölffer Estate 2* Grand Prix Qualifier, $116,100 Douglas Elliman 5* Grand Prix Qualifier, Saturday’s $62,500 5* Winning Round, and culminates with the $70,000 Hampton Classic 2* Grand Prix and $400,000 Longines Hampton Classic 5* Grand Prix on Sunday, August 30. The $30,000 Longines Rider Challenges will also be presented on Grand Prix Sunday as two separate bonuses: $10,000 for the FEI 2* division and $20,000 for the FEI 5* division. Other competition highlights include the $10,000 Stomp Capital 1.40m Open Jumper (Tuesday), $40,000 1.45m National Grand Prix (Wednesday), $10,000 Hunt & Go Stake presented by The Baran (Thursday), $10,000 Harrods Junior/Amateur Welcome Stake (Friday), $10,000 Hermès Equitation Championship (Saturday),$30,000 Agneta & Brownlee Currey 1.45m Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic and $10,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Hunter Classic (Sunday).

Outside of the show rings, families can enjoy unique shopping in the Agneta Currey Boutique Garden and on Stable Row; hands-on activities, pony rides and petting zoo animals at the Kids Exhibition Tent; and many more fun activities during Kids Day (Saturday, August 29).   Daily entry to the Hampton Classic is $25 per carload which includes grandstand seating on all days except Grand Prix Sunday. Admission is free on Monday. Admission is also free on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for Seniors, members of the Military and those who bring three or more non-perishable food items for local food pantries.   Tickets for reserved grandstand seats for Grand Prix Sunday, August 30, are $75 per seat and are available on the Hampton Classic website. Tickets for the Classic Club (formerly the Judge’s Box Lounge), which offers an elevated experience for watching Grand Prix Ring competition on Thursday-Sunday, August 27-30, are also available.    For those who can’t make it to the show grounds, complimentary live webcastsof all Grand Prix and Aspinall Ring competitions air on the Hampton Classic website. Produced by ClipMyHorse.TV, the Grand Prix Ring livestreams are sponsored by Longines and the Aspinall Ring livestreams are sponsored by ClipMyHorse.TV. In addition, WVVH-TV, Hamptons Television, broadcasts up to five hours of competition and highlights each day during the Classic. These broadcasts can also be seen online at www.wvvh.tv.   For more information on the Hampton Classic Horse Show, please visit the Hampton Classic website at www.hamptonclassic.com or call 631-537-3177. Hampton Classic Horse Show, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation.

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Geoff McFetridge opens at Cooper Cole Gallery, July 16, 8-PM, Ontario Canada.

Geoff McFetridge  Grasslands July 16 - September 5, 2026 Opening reception: Thursday, July 16, 6-8pm Request a preview     For all other inquiries please contact the gallery: info@coopercolegallery.com +1.416.531.8000     COOPER COLE is pleased to present Grasslands, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Geoff McFetridge. This new body of work extends McFetridge’s ongoing investigation into perception, memory, and the spaces between observation and imagination. Figures, animals, architecture, and landscape elements occupy scenes that feel at once recognizable and elusive, suspended between lived experience and dream. The paintings evoke a cinematic stillness reminiscent of Alex Colville’s psychologically charged scenes, yet they turn westward into a distinctly unreal landscape where narrative remains suspended and unresolved. While rooted in observations of the everyday, the works in Grasslands carry traces of the vast horizons and spatial sensibilities of the Canadian prairies where McFetridge was raised. Familiar motifs appear transformed, existing somewhere between recollection and invention, certainty and dream.   Materially, the exhibition marks a subtle shift in the artist’s approach. Layers of oil paint are applied over graphic acrylic foundations, creating surfaces that feel atmospheric and luminous. Rich colours emerge through veils of softened paint, producing an effect that is both saturated and sun-bleached. Contrast is deliberately reduced, flattening distinctions between foreground and background, and dispersing attention across the entire composition. Rather than directing the viewer toward a central protagonist, the paintings invite a slower form of looking in at which figures and environments exist in quiet relation to one another.     Geoff McFetridge (b. 1971, Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is interested in how images exist in between or outside of language, and in turn how this encourages more open-minded approaches to cognition. In his paintings, images become language; in the artist’s words, “it should feel like something, rather than look like something.” In the pictorial spaces he creates, definitions are less finite and can slip between interpretations. As indicated by their titles, many of his paintings whimsically play with the bodily experience of design, using simplified figures to both think about forms and collective experiences. McFetridge received his BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design and his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. McFetridge was part of the infamous Beautiful Losers exhibition which debuted in downtown New York in 1991 and went on to tour the world. He has continued to exhibit in international galleries including Cooper Cole, Toronto; Contemporary Calgary, Calgary; Half Gallery, New York; V1 Gallery, Copenhagen; Gallery Target, PlayMountain, Tokyo; and Heath Gallery, Los Angeles. McFetridge has also been included in museum exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver; the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Yale University Art Museum, New Haven; Museum of African American Art (MAAA), and The Geffen Contemporary at MoCA; Los Angeles. McFetridge currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California, USA.     Image: Geoff McFetridge, Untitled, 2026, pencil on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches (21.59 x 27.94 cm)       Geoff McFetridge  Grasslands July 16 - September 5, 2026

Cooper Cole 1134 + 1136 Dupont St Toronto, Ontario M6H 2A2 Canada Thursday - Saturday: 12-5pm info@coopercolegallery.com +1.416.531.8000   Instagram coopercolegallery.com #coopercolegallery#fineartmagazineblog.blogspot.com #sunstormfineartmagazine.com#artfunhorses#artfunnew#artfunhappy#artfuntoday