SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif.--Ireland's James Chawke won twice at the Blenheim Spring Classic on Saturday, April 6, first in the $15,000 1.40m Open Jumper Classic, and then in quick succession, followed up with a win in the $32,000 CSI2* 1.45m Winning Round Classic.
James Chawke on Daido vant Tuytershof (Photo by McCool Photogrphy) Chawke, who finished second on Friday to Conor Swail, turned the tables on Saturday, winning in the Winning Round over Swaii, who was second and third.
In the Winning Round Classic, Chawke’ won on Daido van’t Ruytershof Z.
He had a rail down in the first round, but thanks to the winning-round format, he started on a clean slate over the Jaime Morillo-designed jump-off course.
Chawke was the fifth of 10 to come back for the second round, and, with the time to beat set at 43.17 seconds by Swail on Theo 160, and with Swail still to go on Vital Chance de la Roque, Chawke knew he needed to crank up the speed.
“When you’ve got Conor Swail], Cassio Rivetti and Kyle King in the class, you’ve got to go pretty quick!” said Chawke, who was clean in 40.85 seconds.
Swail 0n Theo 160 was second also was third in 43.80 seconds on Vital Chance de la Roque.
“CONOR AND I have been working together for over 10 years at this stage, so he’s always very supportive,” said Chawke. “I mean, he won yesterday; I won today. I was second to him yesterday; he was second to me today. To beat him is not easy.
James Chawke on Nacara van Berkenbroeck (Photo by McCool Photography)“Daido van’t Ruytershof Z is very competitive,” said Chawke of the mare that he purchased at the end of 2023. “I just got to know her a little bit at the Desert Horse Park. She was really good there; she won quite a few classes.”
On Nacara, Chawke was one of four entries to go clean in the $15,000 1.40m Open Jumper Classic, and won with a clean round in the jump-off in 33.581 seconds.
Brazil’s Cassio Rivetti on Gotico Di Ca’San Giorgio was second in 35.523, and Kyle King on Diamond was third.
“I’ve had Nacara for I think about two years,” said Chawke. “He hadn’t jumped so big when I got him. So, I’ve just been building him up a little bit to this. This winter is kind of the first time he started jumping 1.40m, and he’s been really competitive and won quite a few classes. I’m actually going to jog him next week and do the three-star, hopefully do a ranking class, see how he handles that. That was kind of my plan this week, get him in the ring, jump in a few classes and see how he is feeling.”
