WELLINGTON, Fla.--McLain Ward on Catoki won the $37,000, 1.45m CSI5* held in the International Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
McLain Ward on Catoli (Photo by Sportfot)Wednesday’s competition had 49 competing over a course designed by Anthony D’Ambrosio and Andy Christiansen of Ecuador, and Ward was clean in 28.86 seconds.
“He’s a very fast horse,” said Ward. “He doesn’t actually have the biggest stride but his legs are moving very quick so that allows you to just do your round. You don’t have to do anything extreme; he’s just such a fast type. You’re not really pushing the envelope a lot, and that’s why he’s so consistently at the top of these classes.”
Just one-tenth of a second behind was Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam on Indra Van De Oude Heihoef, clean in 28.96 seconds. and fellow Irishman Daniel Coyle was third on Amalia, also clean in 29.02 seconds
WARD RIDING Catoki had already had success rounds during the winter circuit winning a grand prix win during WEF Premiere week along with a second-place finish in the $37,000, 1.45m CSI5* during WEF 5.
“We just turn him out,” said Ward. “I never ride him between shows. He lunges a tiny bit on the day he shows, but you can’t really do much with him but show. Once he starts jumping, he’s so eager, so aggressive, we just try to mellow him out and let him put a little weight on. He’s like a little racehorse. We try to just keep everything low key and trust that he knows his job when he competes."
“He feels most days that he’s going to make a good effort,” Ward said. “The warmup is interesting. He trots around like he could do the children’s hunter class; you can’t make him go, and as soon as you pick up the canter to the first jump, he’s kind of off to the races. We just try to manage that, not do very much, and stay out of his way.”
With perhaps the most competitive group of riders at WEF to date, even Ward, currently ranked number 14 in the world, is feeling the heat.
“The best in the world and more have funneled here right now,” he said. “We’re fantastically lucky that we’re able to be up and running and compete with all the precautions and people that are making it possible. We’re all very grateful. On one hand, it’s great to really push the envelope as far as the level of the sport and have the best here; but on the other hand, it’s hard to win and you’re really on the line all the time.”
Earlier in the day, Lillie Keenan on Adelita won he $1,000, 1.40m Jumpers CSI5*, going double-clear effort in 31.61 seconds.
