Mattias Tromp and Avon concluded Week Six of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival with a win in the $50,000 Grand Prix CSI2* on Sunday. (Taylor Renner/Phelps Media Group)
Twenty-three exhibitors turned out for the week's main event in the Grand Prix Ring at Flintfields Horse Park. In the first round, course designer Jose Gamarra tested riders over a 13-fence serpentine, consisting of a triple bar, double and triple combinations and a liverpool obstacle. Nine successfully navigated the first round course, securing their chance to return for the tiebreaker.
Alma Björklund (SWE) led the way in the jump-off with the first double clear round aboard her own Loro Piana Ballyleck Royale. They crossed the finish line in 36.040 seconds.
The next double clear performance did not come until five rounds later when Lisa Goldman (USA), winner of Saturday's $7,500 1.40m Open Jumpers, and her own Morocco, an Oldenburg/Thoroughbred gelding, entered the ring. Although Goldman lost a stirrup mid-way through the course, the pair still jumped clear to finish in 33.910 seconds, besting Björklund's time by three seconds.
"Morocco is a bit of a spit-fire," said Goldman. "He's like a big dog; he's my pet. He's who I go to if I'm having a bad day. He's 13 this year. I've had him since he was 4 coming 5. He's a won a ton for me. It was sad not having him in Europe, but it's nice to be back in the tack with him now.
"There were a lot of lines that ended up being quite steady for most horses and that worked out great for me on Morocco because he has that short gallop-y stride," continued Goldman. "I had a lot of really lucky rubs so I will definitely take that today. The jump-off was really good for me. I jumped one and sliced the triple bar at number two and realized that I really should take a deep breath and slow down a bit. I was good in the middle and then I lost a stirrup in the last turn so I never really got my gallop where I wanted to the last jump. My horse jumped amazing though. He couldn't have done any more for me."
It was Tromp and Avon, the talented 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood stallion, who were up next. Hot on Goldman's trail, they blazed around the short course, leaving no door open, and broke the beam in 32.860 seconds to secure the victory.
"I thought the course was big enough," said Tromp. "Parts of the course were a little bit collected, but I thought it was technical and difficult. In the jump-off, we just planned to go quick. Everything just kind of came up how we wanted."
Wilhelm Genn (GER) concluded the jump-off phase of Sunday's grand prix with Eduardo Leon's Bugatti. They produced the last double clear round in 34.750 seconds to place behind Goldman and round out the top three in the final standings.
Having just begun forming their partnership together earlier this spring, 21-year-old Tromp and Avon are undoubtedly proved their winning ways at GLEF, grabbing blue ribbons in both of the FEI-rated competitions during Week Six.
"I feel great!" said Tromp. "I couldn't have asked the horse for any more, he was amazing here. We'll take a week off and then we'll go to the Hamptons. I'm looking forward to competing in the U25 National Championship in Kentucky this fall. That's kind of my plan. I'll base out of Ocala over the winter and we'll see what horse shows we do from there. Avon's been great though, I couldn't have asked him for more. He was great and I have to thank McLain Ward for helping me find him."
Preceding the grand prix on Sunday was the $7,500 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic. Six horses and riders rode for top honors, but none were able to jump clear around Gamarra's challenging first round course resulting in a jump-off against the four 4-faulters.
In the end, it was Olivia Chowdry and her own Cosma 20, an experienced mount previously ridden internationally up to the 5* level with Abigail McArdle of Plain Bay Sales, who took the win. The 24-year-old rider piloted the 13-year-old chestnut Hanoverian mare to the only clear round of the class in 34.984 seconds for the top spot on the leaderboard.
Julia Tops and Stone Ridge Farms LLC's Zamiro 16 finished behind Chowdry with 4 faults in 32.163 seconds, garnering them second place honors. Dana Wille and her own Mach 5 collected 8 faults in 30.176 seconds to take third place, while Allison Stawarz and her own RF Black Pearl finished on 8 faults in 30.673 seconds for fourth place.
The final week of Series Two at GLEF will continue to welcome riders and thrill spectators as it kicks off on Aug. 24 and runs through Aug. 28. Week Seven will feature hunter and jumper competition all week long with a FEI CSI3* rating, culminating in the $100,000 Grand Traverse Grand Prix CSI3* on Sunday, Aug. 28, at the Flintfields Horse Park.
Results: $50,000 Grand Prix CSI2*
1 141 AVON MATTIAS TROMP 0 0.000 0 32.860
2 453 MOROCCO LISA GOLDMAN 0 0.000 0 33.910
3 222 BUGATTI WILHELM GENN 0 0.000 0 34.750
4 243 LORO PIANA BALLYLECK ROYALE ALMA BJÖRKLUND 0 0.000 0 36.040
5 157 DIRKIE Z NICK NOVAK 0 0.000 4 35.110
6 249 CONTESSINA DELLA CACCIA ABIGAIL MCARDLE 0 0.000 4 36.070
7 250 ADAMO ABIGAIL MCARDLE 0 0.000 8 34.260
8 357 CANTARA 59 SARAH SEGAL 0 77.345 Refuse
9 418 REBECA LS DARRAGH KERINS 0 77.342 Refuse
10 248 VICTORIO 5 ADAM PRUDENT 2 81.510
11 438 QUICK DU POTTIER SAMUEL PAROT 4 73.920
12 173 EMPIRE VAN WUITENSHOF EUGENIO GARZA 4 74.700
Kelsey Wickham and Pick Six Capture Glory Days Farm, LLC $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby Victory at GLEF Six
Kelsey Wickham and Pick Six won the $5,000 Glory Days Farm, LLC USHJA National Hunter Derby at the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival Week Six. (Kendall Bierer/Phelps Media Group)
The Great Lakes Equestrian Festival concluded its sixth week of hunter competition with the highlight event of the second series, the $5,000 Glory Days Farm, LLC USHJA National Hunter Derby. Kelsey Wickham and Pick Six rode to the top of the leaderboard with a cumulative 178-point total, while 14-year-old Paige Matthies and Icaris Vede captured second place honors.
Wickham has owned Pick Six, or 'Bandit' as he is more affectionately called, for a little over a year. Purchasing him was a decision that she never regretted, noting that "he was too nice, and we didn't really want him to leave the barn," so she bought him. Bandit proved himself once again on Sunday afternoon when he laid down an exceptional classic round, earning the score of 84 points, and jumping all high options, to take the lead with a total of 88 points.
"He has been amazing," Wickham acknowledged. "He was a little fresh today. We decided not to do him in the Conformation or the First Year Hunters this week, so we took it easy and put him in the derby for fun. This is his first derby of the year, so we thought it would be a nice change to do a bigger class.
"We walked into the ring, he was ready to go. He was all about it today," Wickham continued. "The classic actually had a couple of tricky parts, but our decisions on the course paid off."
Wickham held the highest classic score, meaning that she would return last in the order for the handy round. Although nerve-racking to watch her fellow competitors, Wickham had a plan and she wanted to stick to it.
"The handy round was nice, but the tight turns were definitely tight. You had to either make a tight turn or go all the way around, which meant that it was obvious if you weren't being handy. You had to commit and go all out," Wickham said.
Paige Matthies, the young talent who has swept the Junior Hunter divisions during GLEF Series Two, earned the score of 80 points, with four high-option points included, to return as the third to last to go in the order. Only Aristea Santoro and Comtico, owned by Equinvest Partners LLC, placed ahead of her after the classic round, holding a score of 83 points.
Matthies only recently began riding Icaris Vede (Rufus) in the hunter divisions. Normally her equitation horse, she made the decision to enter him for a change of scenery from the equitation ring. Having competed in five national hunter derbies in her junior career, Matthies felt confident going into the Glory Days Farm, LLC National Hunter Derby at GLEF, especially since she knew that she could capitalize on her prowess as an equitation rider and her trust in her handy mount, even with it being their inaugural derby together.
"The junior hunters have been going really well for us, he is an adorable jumper and he was reserve champion this week, and won the Junior Hunter Classic today," Matthies smiled. "I am so happy that we won the second place today. It was his first derby, and he also just recently came back from an injury, so this meant a lot."
In June 2015, Matthies discovered that Rufus had a fracture in his coffin bone, which proved to be minor and located on the outer edge, but enough for him to need nine months off.
"He came back better than he has ever been. He is an amazing horse, and he has been sound ever since," Matthies said with relief.
Knowing that she could lean on Rufus in the handy, Matthies stuck to a very tight inside track, and was the first rider to land from the fifth obstacle, an oxer out of a two-stride, and make an immediate right rollback over the consecutive vertical. The only other rider to attempt such a turn was the victor, Wickham.
"He is very sweet, brave and wants to do the best that he can. Whatever you ask him to do, he will do it, he just wants to make his rider happy," Matthies said. "Since I do him mostly in the equitation, I knew that we could do the inside turns, which I normally wouldn't attempt on a hunter mount. I knew that I could land and turn, and that he would be right there for me and not be upset about it."
The inside track proved enough to move Matthies into the second place with a handy score of 81 points, and with all high options, a total score of 85 points. When combined with her first-round score, the cumulative points sat at 165, only seven points shy of Wickham.
Wickham commented on her choice to take the same track as Matthies, "We decided to commit to the inside track, and this was the time to do it. He has been great, and it was good practice for him. Might as well be all in now!"
It paid off for Wickham and Bandit, who captured the win with the high scoring round of 90 points, with high options included. Even though Wickham has not entered Bandit in many hunter derbies, and the Glory Days Farm, LLC USHJA National Hunter Derby will be the first of the year, he rose to the occasion, and Wickham laughed, "I guess he still likes these classes."
The third place was awarded to Aristea Santoro and Comtico for their total of 164 points, while Michelle Durpetti captured the fourth. Olivia Jacobs and Southside finished fifth, while Jennifer Nadalin and August Rush rounded out the top six.
Hunter competition will continue throughout Week Seven of GLEF (Aug. 24-28). The final Glory Days Farm, LLC USHJA National Hunter Derby of Series Two will take place on Sunday, Aug. 28.
Results: $5,000 Glory Days Farm, LLC USHJA National Hunter Derby
PLACE ENTRY# HORSE NAME RIDER NAME TOTAL SCORE
1 410 PICK SIX KELSEY WICKHAM 178.000%
2 311 ICARIS VEDE PAIGE MATTHIES 165.000%
3 314 COMTICO ARISTEA SANTORO 164.000%
4 466 LUCCA MICHELLE DURPETTI 153.000%
5 186 SOUTHSIDE OLIVIA JACOB 150.000%
6 127 AUGUST RUSH JENNIFER NADALIN 149.000%
7 128 CATANGO V JENNIFER NADALIN 147.000%
8 190 CAVALIA ALISE OKEN 142.000%
9 215 SALT LIFE KELSEY WICKHAM 131.000%
10 465 MOODY BLUES MICHELLE DURPETTI 91.000%