Del Mar, CA - Twenty-nine horse-and-rider duets danced under the lights in the Del Mar Horse Park covered arena on the evening of September 4 in the $50,000 Grand Prix of Showpark CSI-W, presented by EquiFit, Inc. With riders representing eight different countries vying for the top prize, as well as points on the World Cup leader board, course designer Anthony D'Ambrosio had the task of building a course that tested both the scope of the horse and eye of the rider. Four earned a spot in the jump-off, but it was the talented couple of Percynality Mercedes Benz and Eduardo Menezes who clinched the win by delivering the only double-clear performance of the evening.

D'Ambrosio presented 16 efforts for Saturday's evening event. A careful course with some delicate fences, D'Ambrosio wanted to test the accuracy of the entrants without making too many demands. "I had one wide oxer in the triple combination and one in the double, but I didn't have another difficult fence immediately follow either," the American designer explained. "I had four jumps that were three meters across, the triple bar was one of them and it had some effect." While some riders did lower the height of the triple bar, others found trouble at various areas in the triple and double combinations, as well as fence 11, a daunting vertical jumped on a slight angle towards the grandstands.

As the ninth pair to make their entrance in the first round, Brazil's Menezes and his own Percynality Mercedes Benz forced a jump-off with second in the order and first to go clean, East Coast rider Michelle Spadone and her mount, Melisimo (Morgan Hill Partners, owner). Late in the class, Susan Hutchison and the bay stallion Cantano (El Dorado 29, owner) delivered a fault-free performance to earn a spot in the second round as did 18-year-old Karl Cook aboard his second mount, the talented stallion Uno de Laubry (Signe Ostby, owner).

When considering the group of horses who returned to the shortened track, D'Ambrosio was pleased with their precise performances. "Eduardo's horse is hot and not very easy but he gave us a wonderful display and proved yet again that he is a great rider."

As the second to go in a four horse jump-off, Menezes knew the task at hand. "I had to be fast because Susie [Hutchison] and Karl [Cook] were behind me and they are quick," the winner noted.

Jumping around clean in a time of 36.87, Menezes clearly delivered where neither Hutchison nor Cook were fault-free. After having finished second in his share of grand prix events this season, Menezes was particularly happy. "When I felt him in the warm-up ring, I knew he was feeling great," Menezes said of his 13-year-old partner. "He is a hot horse and very experienced. I didn't show him in the speed class on Thursday because I wanted to save him."

Finishing second was the California hotshot Cook and Uno de Laubry. The young rider completed the jump-off track with four faults, lowering the height of an early fence on the track, in a final time of 37.65. First to return to the shortened track, Spadone and Melisimo also had four faults in 38.77 for a third-place finish. Picking up fourth place, Hutchison and Cantano had a great time of 36.78 but dislodged two rails for eight faults.

The remaining top 12 each had only one rail on course. Delivering the fastest of the four fault rides in a blazing 68.84 seconds on his own Utopia was Colombian native John Perez for fifth. Perez barely edged out the speedy couple of Joie Gatlin and Camaron Hills Quick Dollar (Camaron Hills Farm, owner) who exited the ring with just four faults in a time of 68.99 seconds. Mandy Porter aboard Wild Turkey Farm's bay stallion, Chesapeake, collected seventh place with a heartbreaking four faults at jump one. It was the same sad song for Es Carando Z and Otavio Penedo who pulled the top rail of the first fence but left the remaining fences intact and finished ninth.

Preceding Saturday's World Cup Qualifier was the $30,000 Showpark Jumper Classic, presented by Royal Champion, on Thursday evening. With 42 entries, the event served as a warm-up for Saturday as well as an opportunity to ride in the first indoor class of the California season. Scored as a speed class, eight pairs went clean, but fastest of the night were the new match of Jill Humphrey and Tao Tao 3 (Alicia Jonsson Foster, owner).

Beginning on September 15, Blenheim EquiSports takes the competition back to San Juan Capistrano with the Blenheim Fall Tournament. The show hosts the Wednesday night $30,000 Blenheim Jumper Classic, presented by Royal Champion, as well as the $50,000 CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Cavalor on Friday evening and the ASPCA Maclay Regional Medal Finals on Saturday evening. These highlight events will be held in the Blenheim Farm's Covered Arena.

ENDS