WELLINGTON, Fla.--Olympic team gold medalist McLain Ward on Catoki won over a field of 68 in the $37,000, 1.45m CSI5* at the Winter Equestrian Festival on Friday, March 11.
McLain Ward on Catoki (Photo by Sportfot)Darragh Kenny of Ireland on Gouvernante VDL with a time of 59.19 seconds looked set to win another class in the week, until Bertram Allen, also of Ireland, on Emmylou shaved almost two whole seconds off the clock to jump ahead with a time of 57.69 seconds.
The victory looked in the bag for Allen, until, going three from last, Ward took over the lead in the speed class, finishing in 57.15 seconds to duplicate his victory in the same class of the same week from the 2021 WEF.
“He has been unbelievable this season, and I think he’s won something almost every time we’ve brought him out,” said Ward. “Here in Wellington, we are really seeing the maximum of five-star show jumping because of the level of competition. We have had this funneling of the best riders in the world because America is open and people can compete, and it has raised the standards considerably. I thought Alan Wade did a great job with today’s course, and I just tried to go fast but take a moment where I needed to and trust his footspeed.”
WITH SEVERAL five-star speed class wins and another win in the $75,000 Grand Prix already added to their title in the 2022 season, Ward and Catoki have proved to be a force to reckon with.
“I had known Catoki when he was with a rider from New Jersey, and we thought he could be really competitive,” said Ward. “We have had to learn about him a bit because he is certainly a different type of horse, but once we did, he has basically been a winning machine. He turns out every day, but we never ride him except for when he is about to go in the show ring, and that seems to be what works best for him. He is a pure adrenaline junkie.”
Allen was second, and Kenny placed third.
Maria Costa on Iceman B SFN won the $6,000, 1.45m CSI2* speed class in 63.40 seconds, almost two seconds the fastest.
Only six of the 29 competitors went clean.
“He is very sweet and will pretty much do whatever you ask,” said Costa. “We did seven strides instead of eight down the final line, and I think that is really what separated us from the rest. I didn’t find the exact spot I wanted landing over the second to last fence, but I rode for the seven anyways because that was my plan. He is pretty great in the way that if I ask for it, he will usually do it.”
Iceman is a newer mount for Costa who only acquired him a year ago and has had to take a bit of time to learn his way of going.
“He is a different ride for me as most of my horses in the past have always been hotter, more forward rides,” said Costa. “He is very laid back which has been an adjustment; the goal today was to work on going faster so as not to have time penalties, and we were successful with that, so I am thrilled.”
Bruno Passaro of Argentina was second with his second mount in the class, Splendide Kannan, clean in 65.70 seconds, and Beth Underhill of Canada ion Casino Calvin was third in 66.61 seconds.
