WELLINGTON, Fla.--Alex Granato of Lexington, Ky., on Helios vd Nosahoeve won the $140,000, CSI3* Grand Prix on Sunday, Nov. 17 t the ESP Pre-Charity show..
Alex Granato on Helice vd Noshoeve (Photo by Sportfot)With record-breaking entries totaling more than 750 horses for the week, 12 nations were represented in the day’s featured event.
In the nine horse jump-off over the course set by Hector Loyola of Puerto Rico, Granato, 41, returned with only three to come behind him and posted a time to beat of 42.60 seconds.
“I wanted to establish all my speed early to the triple bar so I could navigate and be patient to the verticals,” said Granato. “From there, I needed to keep the pace through the track.”
Luis Fernando Larrazabal of Venezuela on Baroness was second, clean in 45.50 seconds, and Andrew Welles on Idol H&H was third in 46.01 seconds.
Ireland’s Philip McGuane had the fastest four fault round in 41.98 seconds to place fourth.
“His strength is a super consistent attitude,” said Granato, a member of the bronze medal winning U.S. team at the 2019 Pan-American Games in Lima, Peru. “I was trying to keep up with him out there. He's so bold and brave at the jumps.”
AT THE start of his partnership with Helios vd Nosahoeve two years ago, Granato felt the horse lacked experience.
“When I took the time to fine-tune him and trust him in the ring, his competitive nature took off,” said Granato. “My main focus is going to be to stay consistent at this level and maybe dabble in more four or five stars.”
“We skipped indoors, came down at the start of November and focused on this week and the upcoming four-star," sid Granato. "I’ve really enjoyed it. I'm excited to be going again.”
International competition at Wellington International resumes with the ESP Holiday & Horses CSI4* Nov. 27 through Dec. 1.
