THERMAL, Calif.--FEI competition is back at Desert International Horse Park for the 2026-2027 season, and so is U.S. Olympian Karl Cook.
Karl Cook on Heroes Kervec (Photo by High Desert Sport Photo)Cook on Heroes Kervec won the $62,000, CSI3* Welcome on Thursday, Nov. 5,
The week before, Kyle King on Replay Touch v/d Stapelheyde had won the $100,000 Grand Prix on Oct.31, a non-FEI event.
Of the 57 competitors in the Welcome, nine went clean over the course set by Colm Quinn.
Cook and Heroes Kervec was clean in the jump-off in 35.09 seconds for the win.
Kaitlin Campbell of Israel came close to Cook’s time with two horses, and she ultimately finished both second and third with Cloud and Cosm Questa VD Heffinck, respectively.
With Cloud, Campbell finished in 35.51 seconds, and with Cosm Questa VD Heffinck nearly mirrored that time, finishing in 35.75 seconds.
“Hero is a great horse,” said Cook. “He stayed in Europe for a bit after we bought him. We brought him over at the very end of his 7-year-old year. He’s really come into his own now. We jumped our first 1.45m class in April this year, and then we had two classes of little mistakes. Then after that, he’s just been clear round after clear round after clear round. We’ve been taking it slow, staying at 1.45m, 1.50m, and I think that’s a good place for us to be. He just keeps getting faster, and it’s a great thing. It’s always inspiring when you see horses just from show to show just kind of progressively get better.”
THE WEEK before, King on Replay Touch v/d Stapelheyde won the $100,000 Grand Prix on Oct. 31, the first Saturday night lights winners of the season.
From 38 entries, 12 to return for the jump-off.
King went ninth in the jump-off, following the leading time of 37.847 seconds, set by Amanda Gomez on Guibet P, who eventually placed second.
“I counted strides; I watched from the jumbotron, which is a mistake because it looks a lot slower out there, but I did count Amanda’s strides,” said King. “That horse, Replay, he wants to win more than I do. He’s just a winner. He’s half Thoroughbred horse, and he can really move. He really likes to run and jump. It was a great jump-off for us, wide open…I must have just been barely ahead.”
Ling finished in 37.622 seconds, and that two-tenths of a second was all he needed to secure the win.
“I’m just super proud of that horse,” said King. “He knows how to win. This is probably his fifth kind of big win this season. All of a sudden, he just clicked, and he’s been winning some big ones when it counts and making good prize money and stepping up the ranks. So, I’m just happy to have him. He’s a trier.”
