NORTH SALEM, N.Y.--Eight-time Olympian Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil on Starman won the inaugural $200,000 Blue Diamond Cup, clean in the jump-off in 34.03 on Sunday, Sept. 15 at the Old Salem Farm September Horse Shows, Week 1.
Rodrigo Pessoa on Starman (Photo by SEL Photography)Only four from the starting field of 27 made the jump-off over a course set by Ken Krome.
Brian Moggre, first to go in the jump-of, was clean, setting the time to beat at 37.07 seconds on MTM Vivre Le Reve.
His lead didn't last long as Pessoa went next to finish in 34.03 second, cutting a full three seconds off Moggre's time.
“The first round was pretty technical,” Pessoa said. “Some of the lines and turns came up quick, and the time was a bit short, so you had to maneuver your way around without losing too much time. Starman jumped really well, and I was very pleased with him before we returned for the jump-off. He has a lot of scope, so in the two rollbacks there, fence three to four, then to a double combination, we were able to make it tighter while staying really powerful. The second-to-last jump also ended up being quite tight because there wasn’t much else we could do. There was nowhere I could use his bigger stride to leave a stride out."
"OVERALL, I’m really happy with him,” he said. “We started in the spring with this horse, and he’s moving up very quickly. I’m very pleased. It’s also fantastic to show here at home. I live right up the road from Old Salem, and the shows are always great. The facilities are fantastic, and I’d like to thank all the sponsors for making these shows possible. I’m really happy with the outcome of the week.”
Ireland’s Stephen Moore on Colibelle Hero Z was clean in 36.09 seconds to place second, with Moggre third, while Darragh Kenny of Ireland was fourth with eight faults in the jump-off on Rockstar.
Earlier in the day, Mimi Gochman of West Palm Beach, FL, on Gigi’s Girl BH won the $7,500 1.45m Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic, clean in 35.816 seconds.
“I’ve had my horse for a very long time, so I know her very well now,” Gochman said. “She’s really amazing. She’s got a huge stride and is very scopey, so I was lucky enough to leave one stride out in the first line, which definitely helped our time. She’s also very good through the turns, which is very helpful in a course like this where there were a lot of rollbacks."
“I got a really good turn out of Fences one and two” she said. “Things got a little sketchy at three, but she saved me and made it work, then we recovered coming into the next jump and were able to leave out a stride through the following combination. It was definitely a funny angle, so I wanted to be a bit careful there. The final two jumps were off some tight rollbacks, and those worked out well for us. Overall, she was really good, and I’m very, very proud of her. She’s my steady Eddie, and it’s always fun to compete with her.”
David Oberkircher of Collegeville, Pa., on Upper was second, clean in 36.116 seconds, while Clementine Goutal of New York, N.Y., was third in 39.109 seconds on S&L Quaker Hill.
Lilly Ward of Brewster N.Y. on Celebration, owned by her father McLain Ward, won the championship in Small Pony Hunters.