WELLINGTON, Fla.--Olympic team gold and silver medalist Laura Kraut on Confu won the $216,000 Grand Prix CSI4* during the “Saturday Night Lights” at the Winter Equestrian Festival on March 19.
Laura Kraut on Conful (Photo by Sportfot)Ten went clean from a starting field of 45 from 14 nations that competed over Michel Vaillancourt’s course, and eight were clean again, with Mark McAuley of Ireland on Jasco VD Bisschop leading in 37.55, until the second to last to go, Conor Swail, also of Ireland, on Vital Chance de la Roque, put in a blazing round of 37.10 to go into the lead.
But Kraut was the last to go, and she took almost a half second off Swail's time to finish in 36.44 and the win.
“I knew how quick all of the riders were tonight, so when I was heading in, I thought, ‘I would be happy with fifth,’” said Kraut. “My plan was just to go at his pace and hopefully let him be double clear. The turn to the wall and the rollback to the oxer felt incredibly fast to me. I was then lucky to get a good jump on the second to last fence, and then also lucky to keep the final fence up. He knew exactly what to do.”.
KRAUT SAID that if she had been told Confu would produce this victory several months ago, she may not have believed it.
The class was the first grand prix for Confu since November of 2021 in Europe.
Kraut said that the gelding suffered from a serious virus at the end of 2021, and his future had been extremely unclear.
“The win tonight means everything,” said Kraut. “A few months ago, we were crying because we weren’t sure he was going to make it. It means the world to have him win. I don’t think we could have scripted it any better."
Swail finished second with McAuley third.
“I’m very pleased with how tonight went, and I think we are a great partnership,” said Swail. “He’s quite a buzzy little chap; he is quite aggressive, but he uses it to his advantage because he is so small. He is small and mighty.”
Swail said he may left room for a quicker ride.
“I wouldn’t have minded going a little better from fence one to two,” he said. “I was a little behind in some areas, but I thought I was quite tight back to the oxer and had a good shot to the last fence. The final fence I rode forward and wide to give him a little space and the best chance to jump it well.”
McAuley previously had placed second in the $216,000 Grand Prix CSI4* during WEF 3.
“He hasn’t jumped much under the lights, but I think this circuit has been great for him,” said McAuley. “It felt almost easy to ride him this evening compared to when we competed in the evening on week three. No matter what I did as third to go tonight, I was always going to leave the door open with a field of competitors like these behind me.”
“In the end, maybe I should have taken some stupid risks and I would’ve won,” he added, “but Laura deserved her win tonight and I am very happy for her.”
