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| Laura Kraut and Cedric. By sportfot.com |
Alan Wade of Ireland designed the Grand Prix course for the 40 starters. Eight of theese were able to jump clear to advance to the jump-off. An impressive list of riders, including seven Olympians, jumped-off against the clock in what turned out to be a very competitive class.
Canada's Ian Millar (Star Power) went 18th in the original order and was the first competitor to jump clear. He then jumped first over the shortened course and laid down a double clear round in 49.11 seconds to kick things off and eventually finish in fifth place.
Fellow Canadian Yann Candele (Pitareusa) returned next for the jump-off. He was clear in 45 seconds dead to take the lead, but was pushed back to fourth place in the end.
His round was followed by Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa and HH Let's Fly. The duo had an unfortunate two rails to finish with eight faults in 48.01 seconds, earning eighth place honors.
The lead changed hands again as Venezuela's Pablo Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11 went clear in 44.39 seconds to eventually finish third.
Laura Kraut and Cedric followed, jumping clear in 43.28 seconds to go to the top of the result sheet. Three more rounds followed, but the pair held the win.
McLain Ward of the USA, the final competitor in the ring, and Antares F put in a strong challenge with the crowd cheering them on, but could not quite top the leaders. Their finishing time of 43.46 seconds ended up the second best.
The winners
Cedric, a 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Chambertin x Carolus Z and owned by Happy Hill Farm, has been the ride of a lifetime for Laura. She praised him after the class.
"I've had a lot of really great horses in my life, but I don't think I'll have another one like him. He's extra specia," she said. "He's got tremendous heart and the ability to match, which is not often the case. I'm a lucky person to get to have him and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."
"It was luck. You couldn't really do anything different in the jump-off; you just had to go as fast as you could on the long stretches and turn as tight as you could to the big, big verticals and walls," Laura said of her winning round. "I'm pretty positive that that's as fast as I can go. I don't know where I could have gone faster. It was one of those jump-offs where everything just came up perfectly.
"I tried to stay inside the hoof prints on the turn and hopefully I would be a little bit up on them. My horse is notorious for jumping walls strangely. I saw where the hoof prints were turning to the wall and it terrified me. The distance came up. He can also exit out and choose not to jump, but he was very good and jumped right over it."
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| Christina Kelly and Creata van ten Biesen. By sportfot.com |
Before the Grand Prix, the junior- and amateur-owner jumpers competed in the International Arena.
For the fourth week in a row, Christina Kelly won the $10,000 EquiFit High Junior Jumper Classic, this time riding Diamond Edge Farm's Creata van tenn Biesen. Kelly also won a class in the Medium Junior Jumpers earlier in the morning. The $15,000 ECB Equine Spa High A/O Jumper Classic was also held on this day with a win for Whiskey and owner/rider Sophie Coppedge.
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