WELLINGTON, Fla.--Michael Murphy on Kaida CM won the $62,500, CSI5* 1.50m Classic on Sunday, March 9 at the Winter Equestrian Festival in a class in which almost half of the clean rounds from the first round didn't make it into the second round.
Michael Murphy on Kaida CM (Photo by Sportfot)Murphy has been developing the 10-year-old Kaida CM over the past year, and the mare earned her not only her first five-star victory Sunday but also competed in her first five-star week ever.
The class was run In the winning round format, so that of the 22 clean over Alan Wade’s first course, only the 12 fastest made the second round.
“She’s really naturally quick so she prefers to go at that pace rather than a slower first round pace,” said Murphy of Kaida's speed in the first round.
“I got her from Mclain Ward and my first show was one year ago this week; she did the two-star grand prix,” he said. “She won a two-star grand prix a couple weeks ago on the grass. I’ve been picking and choosing her spots and she is starting to step up with me as I go. My goal is to jump her consistently at 1.50m plus."
“She’s very quick, so the time allowed is never really an issue,” he said. “Especially today, she jumps better when you can run her a little bit. It was nice to have a ‘speed-round’ pace for the first round and in the jump-off let her go the pace she really wants to go. She’s happier going like that.”
MURPHY finished clean in 40.23 seconds.
Belgium’s Nicola Philippaerts on Derby de Riverland was second, clean in 40.30, just a fraction of a second off the time, and Tom Wachman of Ireland on Obora’s Laura was third, clean in 41.33.
“My wife and I run South Coast here in Wellington so we’re based here year round,” Murphy said. “It’s nice for us; we pick the weeks we want to show, because we can show before or after season as well out on the grass. We’ve been selective about what horses show when, knowing we have the whole year ahead of us. Now, we’ll go back to the drawing board and reevaluate what the next three weeks look like."
Australian Olympian Thaisa Erwin won the Martha Jolicoeur, Douglas Elliman Leading lady Rider Award for her two top 10 finishes on Hialita B in the WEF Challenge Cup and the Grand Prix.
