Three-time Olympic legend Joe Fargis, based in Southampton, NY, added another win to an already illustrious career taking top honors in the $25,000 Cherry Blossom Grand Prix presented by The Classic Company.
Fargis had two of the 25 equine athletes taking on the immense layout created by designer Allen Rheinheimer. The starting field was a balanced mix of young promising horses to the seasoned veteran professionals like this afternoon’s victorious Diams III, the 14-year-old Selle Francais mare owned by Mary B. Schwab and Oeji Farms whom Fargis has partnered with since she began her career at age 6. Experience may have been just the edge needed to conquer the long first round of 14 obstacles, with 17 big efforts, as Rheinheimer seemed to hold nothing back on a course that included everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. The seemingly generous 101-second allowance put many a rider on notice as they walked the course comprised of such elements as the 4AB combination [vertical in, oxer out] with an immediate arcing right turn over the 4’9” vertical fence #5 followed by another instant sharp right rollback to the dreaded #6 fence, the triple bar-set at the maximum spread of 5-plus feet. “Just a little test early on to get their attention,” Rheinheimer joked. He continued on to say in a more serious tone, “This course is set with the level of competitor in mind, so, yes it is going to be a bit tough. If it wasn’t this particular group would not be happy with me, they want a challenge.”
The first to take on that challenge was Aiken, SC, based Daniel Geitner, whose numerous hunter and jumper top placings during the two weeks in Atlanta had already proven him a viable threat to the more seasoned pros. Breaking the start timer with Mrs. Charles Bostwick’s eight-year-old Rhinelander mare Sympa, the least experienced of Geitner’s trio of mounts for the day, the pair squelched any remaining doubts of the youngster’s ability to handle this level of competition with a clear round time of 92.633 seconds. “It walked a little tricky,” Daniel said of the assumed hot spot, the quick turn off oxer #11 into a triple combination at 12ABC, which consisted of wide oxer in and two tall verticals out. “Maybe I got lucky, but it rode very nicely. You just had to get your eye on #12 right away.” The following three riders weren’t so fortunate taking either the A or C element down as they navigated through the combination. When the last of the field finished Rheinheimer had 11 determined horses advancing to the final test, including Geitner with two of his mounts as well as Canadian great Mac Cone also with two rides, USET pro Christian Currey with one, the eventual winner Joe Fargis with Diams and Fargis’s student Tracey Weinberg on one.
The jump off of eight obstacles [nine efforts] within 51 seconds also proved to be a long and arduous testing of athletes, taking up nearly half of the Olympic size arena, the course’s only straight line came at starting fence one to two but from there became a technical series of twists and turns to the final fence. Sympa once again had the draw of going first, however the young mare showed no signs of trouble with the task before her, turning in a second clear round in 50.288 seconds. “Equally a long layout, not typical for a jump off,” said Daniel. “Of all the turns I think the one coming off of 12AB to 16 [a vertical of max height] was the toughest as you had to go all the way around it. I think some of them lost their footing a little when going so fast around.”
Daniel spoke of the final round, “With as many as we had in the last round, and then not all of them making a second clear run probably made it a little more exciting to the crowd. Kept them guessing!” Despite being the last to go, often an advantage for riders who can watch how their competition handles certain spots on the course and plan a