It’s not too often that the first horse to go in the derby ends up winning, but it’s also not often that that horse is Heartvit ZH. The grand prix show jumper turned hunter extraordinaire carried Tracey Epp to another victory Saturday of the Canadian Premier in the Amy Brattebo Real Estate Derby 3’6”.
Up against top pairs, Epp was nervous about going first, but she also knew she could rely on her partner, who never puts a foot wrong. They duplicated their success from the April Season Opener, when they won the very same class.
“It was nice starting off in April with the win,” she reflected. “I had my plan and stuck to it, and he’s so reliable; he’s not spooky and he’s good at turning, so as long as I don’t make a mistake, he’s great.”
Heartvit ZH, an 11-year-old Czech Warmblood stallion (Heartbreak ZH x Caesar), jumped his final FEI class at Thunderbird Show Park in the fall of 2023. While he was great at that job, Epp thought she’d try something new with the hunters, and it ended up sticking.
“He was a great FEI horse,” she continued. “I jumped him up to the three-stars and he was super competitive and always tried his hardest. As a breeding stallion I thought we should promote him to make some hunter babies as well. People asked if he did the hunters, so I thought, ‘We’ll do it once.’ So we did it and he was champion and then people thought we should do derby finals, so we used all of last year to do that. He was really good at it so he’s a busy man breeding a lot of future hunter babies. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
It seems all Heartvit does is win now that he’s a hunter. Scoring a 104 as the first to go, all other entries knew they had a high bar to try to top. At the close of the class, no one had gotten within a point and a half of their score. Chaplin, owned by Jan O’Brien, took second with Sara Peterson on a score of 102.5, and St Martin’s Lane was third with Chloe Mache aboard on a score of 102.
Heartvit isn’t too upset about his change in lifestyle, according to Epp.
“He honestly is happy doing anything,” she shared. “He loves to eat, so he likes the hunter diet better than the jumper diet. He’s such a laid back guy I think he suits the hunters but if I ask him to go jump a grand prix tomorrow he would too. He’s just got a heart of gold and not a mean bone in his body.”
While there are already countless Heartvit foals around the world, Epp hopes to get one of her own someday.
“He was from a stud farm in Europe and he bred 100 foals a year,” she explained. “I’ve gone back to Europe and I’ve tried a lot of them and they’re exactly like him. They look like him and have the same attitude. I just don’t have any mares but I’m hoping to get one along the way so I can have one of his babies.”
The remainder of the year will look similar to last year in terms of goals for Heartvit, so he seems up to the task.
“My plan is to continue doing the Canadian hunter derby series because I think it’s so fun and they do such a nice job,” she said of their 2025 plans. “Then I’ll take him out east to Toronto again for Derby Finals.”
Amy Brattebo Real Estate Derby 3’6”
Horse / Rider / Owner / Score
- Heartvit ZH / Tracey Epp / Tracey Epp / 104
- Chaplin / Sara Peterson / Jan O’Brien / 102.5
- St Martin’s Lane / Chloe Mache / Chloe Mache / 102
- Octane / Kaidyn Griggs / Paige Wagter / 101
- Silver Lining / Chelsea McNeill / Cindy Ferrie / 100
- Oxo Van de Bien / Allison Lagain / Joanne Dixon / 99
- Kit Kat / Hadley Wagter / Lina Hamada-Hooper / 87
- Pac Man TW / Amara Gottwald / Amara Gottwald / 86.5
- Light My Fire / Ashley Arnoldt / Jennifer Arnoldt / 86
- Diamond Contender VF / Ava Mikkelsen / Lauren Mercer / 85
