WELLINGTON, Fla.--Marilyn Little of Frederick, Md., on Olympic van de Noordheuevel won the $62,500, CSI2* Grand Prix, and Lorenzo De Luca of Italy on Denver de Talma won the $62,500, CSI5* 1.50m Classic on Sunday, Feb. 9 at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
Marilyn Little on Olympic van de Noordheuevel. (Photo by Sportfot)“I’m incredibly grateful and so excited for the opportunity,” Little said of getting to ride the 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding who had just arrived in the states from Tal Milstein Stables.
“It’s a great horse," said Little who is an Eventing champion and 2015 Pan Am Games Eventing team and individual gold medalist. "He’s had a ton of experience. Tal had a feeling it was going to click. He’s probably one of the easiest horses I’ve ever had the opportunity to ride. It’s novel for me to have so much experience under me. My goal today was to trade on that and take advantage of it since he knows how to go fast.”
Little was clean in the jump-off, over a course set by 2024 Olympic course builder Gregory Bodo of France, finishing in 38.59 seconds for the win.
She was one one-hundredth of a second faster than Luciana Lossio of Brazil on LS Oscar, clean in 38.60 to place second place, and Molly Ashe Cawley on Berdien was third in 38.98.
“AFTER THE class on Friday I knew we had a good shot,” Little said after her sixth place finish in the Qualifier. “He’s such a great jumper and I thought if I’m in the jump-off I really want to take a shot at it.”
Lorenzo De Luca on Denver deTalma (Photo by Sportfot)“My plan was to do eight strides down the last line,” she said. “I knew it was a risk but I saw it three or four strides out, and he picked right up on it. It worked out. It’s like betting; you’re all in when you make a decision like that at the end.”
Based just a few miles down the road in Palm Beach, Sunday’s win was a hometown celebration for Little, who has been wanting more diversity in her string lately.
“I’ve only had one horse for the last year,” she said. “I’ve needed some rides very badly. This is the first time I've had a second horse to ride and a third one just arrived yesterday. The string is growing exponentially by the day right now.”
As for Olympic van de Noordheuevel, “I don’t know where he’ll be in a few weeks,” she said. “The horse can jump big jumps, so in a blue sky world I’d love to jump some bigger classes and night classes by March. We click really well, but we’ll make our plans in pencil.”
The class sponsor 1/ST is making a significant attempt to bridge the gap between show jumping and horse racing, as the two industries have significant crossover in fandom and lifestyle.
“I’m a huge racing fan so I think it is a really natural step,” she said. “Top sport is top sport. If you love horses and you love the equestrian lifestyle, it’s all exciting. It makes sense to bridge the gap, and I'm so excited that they’re doing it. They’re doing a great job and really getting the name out there. I think people are really going to grab onto it.”
De Luca, who only just arrived in Wellington, rode Denver de Talma to win Sunday morning’s $62,500, CSI5* 1.50m Classic.
The Classic had 53 entries and was run in the Winning Round format.
De Luca was clean in 37.38 to win over Erynn Ballard of Canada on Ginger Ask, second in 37.43, with Michael Duffy of Ireland on RMF Clinton Son third in 38.13.
“This horse is my best horse,” De Luca said of 12-yeaar-od Denver de Talma. “It’s definitely the best horse I’ve ridden in my entire career. I have really high hopes for him. He had a magnificent season last year.”
“I didn’t want to go crazy to be honest since it’s his first show back after Geneva, but he has such a natural big stride, so I just used that stride to let him go a little bit more,” De Luca said. “In the first round I worked a little more on control. He felt amazing."
“We have had the horse for a little over a year now,” De Luca said. “I took my time; he’s a special horse with lots of blood and his quality is incredible. We did our first five-star grand prix in May last year and from that moment on he’s grown so much into the sport. This was a good class to finish the week, and in WEF 7 he’ll do the WEF qualifier and five-star grand prix.”
De Luca, who has four horses in Wellington, plans to stay for the remainder of WEF.
“My partnership with Louisburg Farm started two years ago so it’s a pleasure to be here and make my owner happy,” he said. “Today we saw that the horses are in very good condition so I’m looking forward to Week 7 now.”
