Frank Owens pilots MTM Twenties Girl over an oxer in the $25,000 Bohicket Marina Grand Prix (Classic Company)
"It rode a lot harder than it looked on paper," said course designer Allen Rheinheimer. "The horses here were jumping great, so I designed a course to challenge them a bit more as the grand finale to the Charleston Summer Classic and the return of the grand prix competition here," he added.
First to go in the line-up was Christopher Schroeder of Andersonville, Tennessee, in the irons of GK Performance Horses, LLC's Una Bella. Although the pair was well within the time-allowed of 83 seconds, with a total of eight jump faults and a time of 81.610 seconds,Una Bella and Schroeder would finish in eighth place.
Skymiles, owned by Loretta Patterson and ridden by Holly Shepherd of Grand Bay, Alabama was next to go but eliminated at fence seven. Frank Owens entered the ring on his first mount, Capricello 2, owned by DS Holdings, LLC, but a combined total of eight jump and time faults, and a time of 86.995 seconds would place them in eleventh place overall. Quan, owned by Allison Ventura and ridden by Miguel Ventura of Murfreesboro, Tennessee was the next to tackle the course and looked to go clean, but four jump faults at the final fence and a time of 81.770 seconds would place them in fourth overall.
Danielle Grice of Northfield, Minnesota in the irons of
Rapid Rewards, owned by Loretta Patterson followed Ventura and accumulated a combined total of fifteen jump and time faults in a time of 85.654 seconds which would land them in twelfth place overall. Christopher Schroeder and Enrique Van Het Vennehof, owned by GK Performance Horses, LLC were next to go but opted to retire early after fence five.
Arbor Hill Farm's Chase Boggio of Canton, Georgia rode his own Hennessey and with only four faults and a time of 82.058 seconds, found themselves in fifth place overall. Holly Shepherd and Triompf, owned by Loretta Patterson were next to tackle the challenging course and although the pair went clean, their time of 87.564 seconds would result in five time faults and a sixth place finish.
Josh Dolan of Bluffton, South Carolina and his own SLF Annie Lenox were next in the line-up but eliminated after fence nine. Christopher Schroeder and GK Performance Horses, LLC's Diamant De Ravel were next to go and after accumulating eight jump faults in a time of 81.917 seconds, would finish in tenth place overall.
Frank Owens was next up and this time aboard MTM Twenties Girl, owned by DS Holdings. The pair sailed through the course and with a clean round in a time of 82.769 seconds would eventually win the class.
Amanda Wise of New Fairfield, Connecticut in the irons of Reiner Niewisch Equestrian's Collin, looked to make it a jump off, but with four faults and three time faults in 85.137 seconds, finished in seventh overall.
Grice returned to the grand prix course, this time riding her own Boysterous. The two were eliminated after fence eight. Sibling rivalry kicked it up a notch when Whitney Owens of San Antonio, Texas and DS Holdings, LLC's S&L Shoe Guru were next to go and gave her brother Frank a run for the money in the time of 80.880 seconds, but with four time faults finished in third overall.
Schroeder and his fourth mount GK Performance Horses, LLC's Catungee looked to make it a jump-off when they went clean, but their time of 83.784 seconds penalized the pair with one time fault which placed them in second overall.
Last to go, Shepherd and Loretta Patterson's Silverstone took to the course. The pair earned eight jump faults in a time of 81.847 seconds which would place them in ninth place overall.
Frank Owens commented, "It was much more technical than the week before, the course was longer and the time was pretty tight; it wasn't too big, there were nice rampy oxers and other fences, but the three combinations and the vertical combination at the end made it kind of hard when your horses are tired," he said, "But, you know, it did work for me," he added.
Owens continued, "I got this horse from Mike [McCormick] and Tracy [Fenney] about a year ago and I started doing the prix on her last summer. She's a 9-year old Dutch mare and belongs to Diana Stumberg, who is arguably one of the best sponsors I could have," he said, "Although she [MTM Twenties Girl] has been pretty consistent and we have won a few mini-prix, this is my first grand prix win with her. So, not only is it nice to go home with a win, but it makes it even nicer that it was her first win," he said.
"I think we'll be back in Charleston next year-every one of our amateur ladies said they want to come back with their families next year. It couldn't be more beautiful here. We went to all of the parties at Red's, Tiffany's and we had such a nice time. The Classic Company and their sponsors threw such great dinners, breakfasts and parties, they really make you feel like they want you to be here," he added.