WELLINGTON, Fla.--McLain Ward rode Catoki to win the $37,000 Holiday II Opener CSI4*, a class that drew 69 competitors to the International Arena to vie for the top prize and FEI ranking points.
McLaiin Ward on Catoki (Photo by Anne Gittins)“He is so fast, so it’s kind of his job to try to win these classes and to pay for the others to show,” said Ward of the 2009 Westphalian gelding. “Kent had a great round on a very fast horse, and I was a little concerned the course didn’t actually suit Catoki because they were doing a leave-out in one line in the speed phase, and I really didn’t think I could do that. But, he’s a quick enough horse even without that, and he really jumped great.”
Run under a modified power and speed format, the class featured a course set by Héctor Loyola of Paraguay and challenged exhibitors to jump clear over the first nine fences and then immediately continue on to the final six obstacles, regardless of whether or not faults had been incurred in the initial phase.
THE TIME for the latter portion of the course served to rank competitors.
The class included representatives from 11 countries, the United States, Ireland, Great Britain, Israel, Mexico, Egypt, Canada, Chile, Brazil, Russia, and Switzerland.
Third to go, Santiago Lambre of Mexico on Cetano Van Aspergem Z was clean in 30.38 seconds, which held until the 30 entrant, Kent Farrington on Austria 2 was clean in 29.73 seconds to go into the lead with nearly 40 still remaining.
“He’s fast. Honestly, I didn’t watch Kent because this horse really goes with his own game plan, and he’s super fast,” said Ward. “Sometimes when you try to do what others do, you end up making a mistake. I try to do the best round I can do with him, and I knew it was as fast as I could try to go within what his strengths were.”
As the fourth-to-last out of the starting order, Ward made a bold inside turn option to just barely edge ahead, crossing the finish line in 29.67 seconds.
Farrington on Austria 2, was second , and Darragh Kenny of Ireland was third on Belo Horizonte with a fault-free time of 29.99 seconds.
“I think great efforts are being made for this to go on,” said Ward of competing under a COVID protocol. “We’re all welcoming a vaccine and some normalcy, and being able to be outside and compete with, obviously, the right precautions is great. It feels as close to our normal life as we can get right now.”
