WELLINGTON, Fla.--Daniel Deusser of Germany on Kiana Van Het Herdershof won the $75,000 1.50m Championship Classic CSI5* on Sunday, Feb. 27 for his second victory of the week, having previously won the Challenge Cup on Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z.
Daniel Deusser on Kiana Van Het Herdershof (Photo by Sportfot)A field of 53 competed in the Classic, with 15 going clean.
Deusser,having already gotten a feel for the track with Killer Queen VDM, rode Kiana Van Het Herdershof to go clean in 33.36 seconds.
“She is just coming back from a long break and has been a bit over-excited the past two or three weeks,” said Deusser. “She is typically my 1.45m speed horse, but this week I decided to build her up for the bigger Sunday class, and it worked out very well.”
“She is naturally very fast so if I can handle her and show her the fences, she will almost always want to do it quicker than everyone else and that was definitely to my advantage,” said Deusser. “With the first horse I had in the jump-off, I didn’t want to risk everything, but just tried to use Killer Queen’s longer stride to my advantage. We ended up fifth and then a few came after that were faster, so I knew I had to give it everything we had. We did, and it worked out.”
Petronella Andersson of Sweden was second on Halita O, clean in 34.87 seconds, and Belgium’s Jos Verlooy on FTS Killossery Konfusion was third in 34.34 seconds.
MARIA COSTA, 29, won the $50,000 Grand Prix CSI2* on Valentino V Z over a field of 44 earlier in the day, going clean in 37.85 seconds.
“This might sound crazy but I was on him for all of 30 seconds when I tried him, and I just knew I had to have him,” said Costa of her 13-year-old stallion. “Our relationship is really special to me. I have had him since he was a 7-year-old, and it was certainly a rocky road in the beginning. We stayed super consistent with him. He is the type of horse that really appreciates consistency so about two years in he just kind of decided he liked it. Our bond has gotten to the point where I would comfortably ride into war on him. I always know he has my back and I have his, so I would have to say it is the most special connection I have ever had with a horse. I can’t imagine it ever getting better.”
“I really wanted to take a little bit of a risk today,”said Costa. “I jumped clear in the qualifier on Friday but I was not happy with my performance in the jump-off. My goal was to do better today, and that goal was really my main motivation in my ride. He is naturally fast, and if you let him go forward a bit he thrives on the energy. He is not a big horse but he makes himself big when he is out there in the ring.”
Fabio Leivas Da Costa of Brazil on Ilex was second with a time of 38.29 seconds, and Charlotte Jacobs was third on Rincoola Milsean, clean in 38.41 seconds.
