WELLINGTON, Fla.--Richard Vogel of Germany beat 28 of the world’s most promising young show jumpers to win in the $50,000 Under 25 Series Grand Prix Final.
Richard Vogel on Looping Luna (Photo by Sportfot)In the jump-off, Grace Debney of Great Britain was the first clean in 37.81 to eventually place third on Boheme De La Roque.
“I knew that jumps one through four were the most important part of the course,” said 18-year-old Debney. “They appeared to be the easiest so that is where you were going to make up the time. I didn’t catch everything the way I wanted to, but I still thought I did a good job of finding the jumps out of the turn to make it smooth.
“One of our biggest goals was this series this year, and this mare is definitely one of my top horses so that is why we chose her,” said Debney. “She is always looking to do the right thing, and sometimes I think she wants to win more than I do!”
CARLOS HANK GUERRIERO, 21 of Mexico, on H5 Chacco was clean to beat Debney by mere milliseconds with a time of 37.76 seconds and place second.
“Even now that I am participating in some of the four and five-star events, this series is still a highlight for me,” said Guerriero. “I have been competing in this series for probably six years, and it really feels like the show puts forth an effort for us young riders to step up and gain more experience at a higher level than junior or amateur classes. I didn’t have as many horses this year so I was lucky to qualify and then I decided to bring my most competitive horse today. He is careful but always wants to fight for you. I’m very happy with how it played out.”
Germany’s Richard Vogel, having seen where he needed to make moves to win, rode Looping Luna to a clear round in 36.16 seconds and knocked over a second off of Guerreiro’s time.
“I think the key for the jump-off today was to just be as smooth as possible,” said Vogel, who has a business with German team rider David Will in Frankfurt, Germany. “There wasn’t really anywhere you could get a good gallop because there were a lot of turns and angles. I saw Grace go, and I knew I had better give it my all because she was going to be hard to beat.”
While Vogel won the final grand prix, he also won the entire series, which included events over five different weeks of the WEF circuit.
“I think this series is amazing for us younger riders to be able to compete between ourselves,” said Vogel. “From the beginning of the season I was very focused on this tour. I had three horses for this series, and my plan was to use the horse that was most suited to the venue we were competing in.”
Irishman Darragh Kenny won the $75,000 1.50m Classic CSI4* in a eight horse jump-off from a stating field of 58.
McLain Ward was the first double clear with his newer mount, Kasper Van Het Hellehof to eventually place sixth.
Darragh Kenny on Volnay Du Boisdeville blazed into the lead with a time of 36.64 seconds.
“I thought today’s course was brilliant,” said Kenny. “Michel did a great job, and to be able to end up with only eight clear out of that large of a field was pretty impressive. The jump-off was always going to be quick, but I know he is a naturally fast horse. I just had to do my own plan and it worked out for us today.
“I took over the ride on this horse in the middle of the summer and just took it slow to build up a partnership with him,” he said. “He was brilliant for Teddy Vlock when he had him, and it’s starting to go well for us. He jumped clear in the WEF Challenge this week, and he was just fantastic today so I am very happy with him.”
Lillie Keenan rode Skyhorse to place second with a time of 37.20 seconds, and Daniel Coyle of Ireland was third on Carlyle.
