BRIDGEHAMPTON, N.Y.--Fresh off his sixth Olympic appearance at this summer’s Paris Olympic Games where he added a team silver medal to his collection, seven-time Hampton Classic Grand Prix champion McLain Ward on High Star Hero won the $70,000, CSI5* Grand Prix Qualifier on Friday, Aug. 30, clean in the jump-off in 34.91 seconds.
Mclain Ward on High Star Hero (Photo by KindMedia)The Qualifier was Ward’s first international class with the 11-year-old Belgian Sport Horse gelding owned by Thaisa Erwin and Michael and Wendy Smith.
From a starting field of 47, 12 were clean over the course set by Nick Granat.
“His owners, Michael and Wendy Smith, are great supporters of mine, and their rider Thaisa Erwin has been producing him for the last several years,” Ward said. “Thaisa’s done a brilliant job. The Smiths felt he would suit my ride, and she has a new young horse, so this horse moved over to our stable last Wednesday. This is our first FEI showing."
“He’s got a great amount of talent and a great brain,” he said. “He’s ready to compete at this level and has been competing with Thaisa throughout the summer months. He’s definitely my type of ride, and I’m excited to see what the future has in store."
“There were some fast riders to come including Jordan Coyle and Darragh Kenny,” Ward said. “I knew there were challenges on course, but I thought it was a good route and had a plan. I adjusted it slightly to the combination; I did one less stride than I originally planned, but he was covering the ground well. Overall, I stuck to my plan and was lucky to be just fast enough to win.”
Ireland’s Jordan Coyle was second on For Gold, clean in 35.31 seconds, and Kristen Vanderveen on Bull Run's Jireh was third, clean in 36.21 seconds.
WITH THAT third, Vanderveen took over the lead in the Longines Rider Challenge with 170 points.
Sydney Shulman Desiderio of Israel moved into second with 132 points, and Christian Coyle of Ireland is third with 130 points.
The Challenge, which awards $30,000 and a Longines watch to the rider accumulating the most points in the week’s Open Jumper classes, will be awarded Sunday following the Longines Hampton Classic 5* Grand Prix.
Earlier in the day, Molly Ashe Cawley on Berdien won the $32,000, CSI2* Grand Prix Qualifier over 31 entries, clean in 38.46 seconds.
The top two placings were separated by just a hundredth of a second,
Nine advanced to the jump-off, won by Ashe Cawley over Vanessa Hood on K&T Geromino, clean in 38.47 seconds.
“I thought I left a little room on course, actually,” Ashe Cawley said. “I knew I could be beaten, especially by Sydney (Shulman Desiderio) if she was clear. Her horse is so fast. I felt I was a little slow down the first line and tried to make it up across the middle to the liverpool. I took a little risk there, but I think that’s how I nipped by Vanessa with a very tiny hundredth of a second.”
Ireland’s Philip McGuane was third, clean in 39.18 seconds on Edgard De Prefontaine.
Later in the afternoon, 54 competed in the $10,000 Junior/Amateur Welcome Stake, with eight making the jump-off, but only one, Olivia Sweetnam on HDB Quality, was clean in the jump-off to win.
“I saw the majority of the class doing four strides in the line down to the double verticals, but five suited my horse better so I did that to help us out a little bit,” said Sweetnam. “My family has had HDB Quality for five years, and I’ve ridden her for the past two and a half. I have a really good partnership with her in the ring and in the barn. She’s so sweet, so competitive and wants to win so badly. I just love her.”
As the fastest of the four-faulters, Cristian Hacker and Alexa Elle Lignelli were the top five riding two mounts each.
Hacker was second and fourth, respectively, on Cocaine De Riverland in 31.678 and Sparks 55 in 33.092).
Lignelli was third and fifth, respectively, on Fayuri in 32.229 and Helium in 33.498).
