PL Yankee Littlewhiz on his way to Las Vegas

05/11/2023 – 24 combinations in total entered the $ 73,202 added NRHA European Derby L4 Open finals scheduled for yesterday in Lyon (FRA). It took a while before the excitement was being felt which started with the entry of Bernard Fonck (BEL) with the 7-year-old stallion ND Pop Gun Trash [Gunnatrashya] owned by Nathalie Derua, the 18th entry in the second section. By marking a 224,0 Fonck took the lead, but not for very long. Entry number 20, Dominik Reminder (GER) and the 6-year-old stallion PL Yankee Littlewhiz [Yankee Gun] owned by Simone Zen entered the arena and the concentration on the face of reminder was breath holding. In the preliminary round there had been some miscommunication between horse and rider resulting in a 217,5 score, but in these finals there was no such sign of that. Reminder performed very well with breathtaking spins, wonderful circles, a little bit too enthusiastic rollbacks, but the 230,0 score was more than justified. Reminder stayed in the lead until the end of the finals. Reserve honors, marking a 227,5 with Ann Fonck at the reins, were for the 8-year-old stallion Spook Unchained [Smart Spook] owned by Anna Reinhart. The 3rd step of the podium stayed empty, there was just not enough room. Besides Bernard Markus Gebert (GER) piloted the 5-year-old stallion Spooksgottacoolstep [Spooks Gotta Whiz] owned by Angelika Gebert to a 224,0 and so did Andrea Costa (ITA) with the 7-year-old gelding TR Reinman [Shine Chic Shine] owned by Christian-Peter Zinsli.
The L4 Open Derby Champion title was not the only award for Reminder. He also obtained a ticket to enter the The Run For A Million competition (TRFAM) scheduled for August 2024 in Las Vegas. This was the first time riders could qualify for the TRFAM in a competition outside of the USA. Reminder: “I am so proud of this horse and so happy we could qualify for the TRFAM on European soil and that we made it. Right now the plan is to fly PL Yankee Littlewhiz over to the USA at the time being, so we will take good care of him until then.”

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Photo: PL Yankee Littlewhiz and Dominik Reminder. Photo: Wanted, ITA