OCALA, Fla.--New Zealand’s Sharn Wordley on Mick Jagger won the $50,000 Grand Prix at HITS Ocala on Sunday, Jan., 29.
Sharn Wordley on Mick Jagger (Photo by ESI)Wordley was the first to go in the jump-off, and was clean and fast, finishing in 46.244 to win over the only other clean round, which came from Australia’s Scott Keach on Wild Thing, who placed second in 46.580.
Keach also placed third on his second mount, Noble De La Chapelle, with 1 time fault.
“Mick Jagger really likes this ring here at HITS, so I'm going to compete with him every Sunday, just one class,” said Wordley. “If he likes a venue, he has some consistency, so he'll just jump one class. He won a couple of grand prixs here last year, and he was second in the grand prix last week, so he's having a great year!”
Danny Foster of Canada designed the track for the $50,000 Grand Prix in the new Grand Prix ring at HITS Ocala, which had seven clean..
“My plan was to go medium fast and make sure that I was clear, but still go fast enough to put a bit of pressure on everybody else,” said Wordley. “I’ve had Mick Jagger for two years and he's been a really good horse for me.”
“HE'S A STRESSFUL horse with extreme ability, but he’s not always together with you," he said. "Trying to get him to navigate corners and slow down and go forward is sometimes challenging. I've gotten to know him now, so I know sometimes you have to pull left to turn right and sometimes right to turn left with this horse, but when he gets there, he can jump any course.”
Savannah Unger on Fabio (Photo by ESI)Wordley is one of the founders of Wordley Martin Premium Equestrian Surfaces and helped create and design the Grand Prix ring and Main Hunter ring at HITS Ocala.
“Joe Norick and the team here have really changed things up, and it's a completely different atmosphere at HITS than it used to be," said Wordley. "It's a, ‘How can we help you? What can we do for you?’ environment, which is fantastic. It's a breath of fresh air to be here. We built the arenas, and thankfully they're riding really well. The new jumps look great, so it's been great!”
Savannah Unger on Fabio won Friday’s $25,000 Grand Prix over four in the jump-off.
Unger had the advantage of going last aboard Fabio, winning over Callan Solem on Horion De Libersart, while David Cameron on Oaks Come by Chance was third.
“My mom purchased Fabio as a sale horse in Europe as a 7-year-old and when we bought him over, no one thought he would ever go past 1.30m except my mom,” said Unger. “She kept saying, ‘Keep trying, keep trying, keep trying.’ Little by little, we kept moving up and we were able to just keep going up in the jumper classes.”
Solem had set the time to beat after finishing clean in 48.257 seconds, then Cameron fell just shy, clean in 48.645 seconds.
Unger on Fabio was the last to go and then left a stride out to the final oxer to finish in 47.121 seconds for the win.
“I think I had a good draw going last in and there were only four in the jump-off,” said Unger. “Callan went right before me, and she put down a pretty good pace, so I knew I had to do pretty much her exact track and be a little bit quicker to the last jump. I took a risk going to the last jump, but I really ran as fast as I could there. I hoped I would get a good distance with a good rhythm, and it came up perfectly. From the combination, we went inside to the vertical, which Callan did as well, but I think I was just a bit quicker to the last.”
