During the 127th Warrenton Horse Show in Virginia the inaugural $7,500 William E. “Bill” Graves Memorial Thoroughbred Hunter Derby, sponsored by Gainesway Sales Company, will be held on Thursday, Sept. 3, according to a press release from the show on Monday.
The event will be a two-round hunter derby class at the three foot height and is open to any Thoroughbred horse.
Warrenton plans to continue to hold the Back From the Track hack, the Too Slow to Go hack, the Thoroughbred Hunter Division–2'6′” or 2'9″, the $2,500 Take2 Thoroughbred Division at 3′ (sponsored by the VanMeter Family) alongside the Graves Hunter Derby.
The Warrenton Thoroughbred celebration will begin with the Virginia Thoroughbred Yearling Futurity which is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 2.
The event is named for a beloved member of the Virginia Horse Shows Association Hall of Fame and senior vice president at Fasig-Tipton for over a quarter of a century, Bill Graves, who started his career like most Virginia horsemen of that era by remaking Thoroughbreds off the track into show horses.
A sought after rider at the highest levels who competed across the country, Graves passed away in 2018. His son Brian Graves is the general manager at Gainesway.
To learn more about the events in Warrenton along with its history, click here for more information.
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