Susie Artes and Zamiro are the only ones to answer Danny Foster's questions and nail the $30,000 Memorial Day Classic Grand Prix
(Flying Horse Photography)
The grand prix was a fantastic finish to the Memorial Day Classic Horse Show (May 23-27) as a large crowd gathered to watch several grand prix regulars and a few newcomers attempt Danny Foster’s (CAN) difficult course. “I thought it was an exciting class with the crowd holding their breath waiting for a clean round,” Danny noted.
First out of the gate was Jenni Martin-McAllister on LEGIS Here I Come (LEGISequine.com, owner). Though Jenni rode a beautiful and clear round, the clock caught up to her and she received four time faults when she finished in 99.766, exceeding the time allowed of 96.
Many horse and rider combinations came and went, including grand prix regulars like Rusty Stewart, Ashlee Bond, and Justin Resnik, but each caught at least one rail. Several riders dropped a rail on the triple combination, which had a tricky approach off an oxer and heading toward the crowd. “That was challenging because the turn from the oxer to the triple threw a lot of people off,” Ashlee commented. Her World Cup mount Wistful (Little Valley Farms, owner) knocked the rail on 9B, but otherwise jumped clean and fast and landed in third.
“This class was to be set at the national standard, which made it challenging to begin with, but I think the distractions of a large crowd and its proximity to the ring were definitely a factor in making the course jump even harder than it may have seemed,” Danny elaborated. “Having said that, I think the horses jumped great. Several of them were just a little unlucky, but we certainly had a very good winner.”
Susie knew she could do better after dropping three rails with her first horse, Karina 445 (Alix Fargo, owner). “I was disappointed in my first ride,” Susie commented. “I felt like I didn’t fight hard enough, so when I came back on Zamiro, I fought twice as hard.”
Susie made sure to stick to her plan with Zamiro (Alix Fargo, owner), which she has been riding for four years. “When you watch other riders go, it can be tempting to doubt yourself and change your plan. But Zamiro has such a big stride that I have to stick to my plan no matter what other people do,” Susie explained. “We have such a good partnership and we’ve been together long enough that I feel confident I can trust the plan I came up with in the course walk.”
Her plan was obviously the right one, as she finished in plenty of time despite losing a shoe after fence 12. “I left out a stride in the first line, which most people didn’t do. I also took the inside turn option from fences 7 to 8 just to be safe on time, and it never hurts to be fast. I wasn’t worried about clearing fence 8 because we’ve been competing on courses with a tight time allowed so we’ve practiced those tight turns.”
Susie proved she had all of the answers to Danny Foster’s questions, and when she went clear across the final oxer within the time allowed, the crowd exploded. Though Susie was relieved after her picture perfect trip, she couldn’t let herself relax. “While I watched the rest of the riders go, I was thinking about the jump off and planning where I would leave out strides,” Susie recounted. “It can be nerve-wracking to wait until the end of the class.”
She did have to wait to see if there would be a jump off until the very end of the class when Justin Resnik stepped into the ring on his third mount, Carismo Z (Carismo Group, owner). “I knew I had to have a clean round and it was a tough, lengthy course,” Justin said. His focused effort left all the rails in place, but unfortunately his tracks were not quite as efficient as Susie’s. The pair clocked in at 98.920 seconds and unfortunately incurred three time faults, which put him in second place.
“Carismo spends quite a bit of time in the air so I tried to make up some time on the course, but I needed to make a few more inside turns to make it within the time allowed,” Justin commented. “But overall it was a great course and I’m happy with the round.” Justin also had reason to celebrate when his student Gavin Brodin placed seventh on his Ballingtogether Mustateer in Gavin's grand prix debut.
Ashlee placed third, fifth, and tenth on her horses Wistful, Argo Star (Zuchtoff Klatte, owner), and Cadett 7 (Little Valley Farms, owner), respectively. “I was happy to get ribbons on all three horses,” Ashlee said. “Cadett hadn’t shown in awhile, but he had a good round. This was also Argo Star’s fourth grand prix ever, so I was really happy with how well he did.”
Susie was naturally thrilled with the win, which is an excellent precursor to her World Cup campaign. “I’ll be going to Spruce Meadows, and then we’ll try the World Cup Qualifiers for the first time with Zamiro,” Susie shared. “I hope to get to most of the shows on the West Coast Indoor Circuit as well.”
$30,000 Memorial Day Classic Grand Prix results:
(Place-horse-rider-owner-score)
1st Zamiro - Susan Artes - Alix Fargo 0
2nd Carismo Z - Justin Resnik - Carismo Group 3/98.920
3rd Wistful - Ashlee Bond - Little Valley Farms 4/85.603
4th Bristol - Rusty Stewart - Grey Fox Farm 4/88.648
5th Argo Star - Ashlee Bond - Zuchtoff Klatte 4/89.267
6th LEGIS Venice - Jenni McAllister - LEGISequine.com 4/91.186
7th Ballingtogether Mustateer - Gavin Brodin - Gavin Brodin 4/93.524
8th Copias - Justin Resnik - AMA Mkt & Mgmt 4/94.597
9th LEGIS Here I come - Jenni McAllister - LEGISequine.com 4/99.766
10th Cadett 7 - Ashlee Bond - Little Valley Farm 8/80.487