Jessica Mendoza and In The Air at the 50th Hampton Classic with her first CSI5* win | Photo by Troi Santos
Bridgehampton, NY — Bridgehampton in late summer is a theater without walls. The wind off the Atlantic carries the tang of salt and meadow grass, and for one luminous week each year, a 60-acre field on Snake Hollow Road transforms into a cathedral of equestrian sport. Rails rise like sculpture, banners ripple like sails, and more than 50,000 spectators gather to witness the Hampton Classic Horse Show.
In 2025, the show marked its fiftieth anniversary, a milestone measured not only in numbers but also in hoofbeats, resilience, and the devotion of countless hands that keep this ritual alive.
The Hampton Classic began in 1976 as a local gathering stitched together with modest resources and borrowed dreams. By the following year, it staged its first Grand Prix with a $10,000 purse, won by Bernie Traurig on Southside. That early triumph became a prophecy. From there, the Classic rose into one of America’s premier FEI five-star competitions, drawing the finest riders and horses from around the globe. Its identity was shaped as much by sponsors as by champions: Longines with its exacting timepieces and Rider Challenge, Hermès with its iconic orange in the boutique gardens, CME Group with the National Grand Prix, Aden Brook with the Winning Groom’s Award, and stalwarts like Land Rover and artisan partners whose support helped distribute more than $1 million in prize money.
Its story has always been one of endurance. In 1982, a tornado flattened tents days before opening. In 1985, torrential rains turned it into the infamous “Year of the Mud.” Hurricane Bob lashed Long Island in 1991, and Hurricane Irene forced a three-day delay in 2011. In 2020, the pandemic silenced Snake Hollow Road for the first time. Yet each time, the Classic returned — patched with grit and hope, never diminished.
By its fiftieth year, the Hampton Classic had become more than just a horse show; it was a seasonal rite, a marker in the lives of those who returned annually. In the VIP chalets, rosé sparkled as celebrities mingled. On the berm, families spread blankets, children traced hoofprints in the sand, and local vendors reminded visitors that this was as much a fairground as it was an international arena.
The opening ceremony carried its own poetry. Longtime announcer Peter Doubleday welcomed the crowd with the steady cadence of decades. At the center of the Grand Prix Ring, ringmaster and bugler Alan Keely lifted his post horn and sounded the call, a brassy shimmer across the afternoon air. The crowd rose as Tony and Emmy Award–winner Kristin Chenoweth sang the National Anthem with crystalline strength, her voice soaring above the flags and the salt wind.
The 2025 Grand Prix was a drama of precision. Thirty-nine riders from fourteen nations faced a course designed by Nick Granat, protégé of Conrad Homfeld and heir to the Aachen School of Course Design. His 1.60-meter, seventeen-effort test demanded rhythm and accuracy. Rails fell until only three remained: Kristen Vanderveen with Bull Run’s Jireh, Great Britain’s Jessica Mendoza with In The Air, and Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam with James Kann Cruz.
The jump-off unfolded like a theater. Vanderveen went first, completing the course in 38.05 seconds, but faulted. Mendoza followed, her rhythm steady, her mare springing with trust — 37.34 clean. Sweetnam pressed hard, courage carrying him to the final line, but his 37.90 secured second. For only the second time in Classic history, the British flag rose above Bridgehampton. Mendoza, radiant at the center ring, also claimed the Longines Rider Challenge at 395 points.
Anniversary honors deepened the sense of lineage. Ladriano Z, Daniel Bluman’s chestnut who triumphed here in 2017 and 2023 before retiring last year, joined the pantheon of equine legends: Judgement ISF, Cedric, HH Azur. Riders too carved the Classic’s soul, Rodney Jenkins in its dawn years, Margie Goldstein-Engle with her three consecutive titles, Joe Fargis with his razor-thin 2005 win, Hillary Dobbs, the youngest champion in 2008, and McLain Ward with his brilliance aboard Sapphire. Each left hoofprints pressed into the Bridgehampton sand.
Even the footing tells a story. Once a natural grass field, the Grand Prix arena was rebuilt in 2019 with Kentucky bluegrass over a sand-fiber-soil base. In 2022, it became all-weather footing, silica sand, and textile fibers over advanced drainage, engineered to hold speed and stability through any storm. Tractors dragged it between rounds, water sprayed in fine arcs, and each hoof found confidence. It was footing that carried Mendoza’s mare to flight.
Beneath the glamour, quiet labor sustained the show. Grooms walked horses at dawn, braided manes in half-light, cooled muscles long after the crowds had gone. In 2025, Lina Karlsson, caretaker of Mendoza’s “In The Air,” received Aden Brook’s Winning Groom’s Award, a modest $500 prize with meaning. Crews tended footing, veterinarians stood guard, farriers measured in millimeters, and officials enforced order while volunteers guided families. Behind it all, Executive Director Shanette Barth Cohen orchestrated the invisible machinery that raises this ephemeral village each August.
As twilight closed on the fiftieth year, rails were stacked, footing leveled, horses breathing into the quiet of an August night. The Hampton Classic ended as it began: with care, community, and endurance.
