Rene Dittmer, who made quite a mark at the Winter Equestrian Festival, translated his success to another season with a victory in the $400,000 Longines Hampton Classic 5-star grand prix over the weekend.
The German and Corsica X, a Holsteiner mare by Connor he owns with Glen Haven Farm, topped a 40-horse field over a 17-effort course laid out by Nick Granat. How nice to have an American, instead of the usual foreign designers, doing courses at the Classic. That was where Nick worked 17 years ago with Conrad Homfeld when he was handling the duties on what was once a big grass field (now all-weather footing) at the classic Long Island show.
Dittmer’s clear round in 37.55 seconds during an eight-horse jump-off was a step up from his win last year in the show’s $39,000 5-star speed stake.
Rene Dittmer and Corsica X (Kind Photo)
“It really means a lot to me to win in front of this amazing crowd,” Rene said.
“My horse was unbelievable this week; she jumped five clear rounds and didn’t have a rail down all week. I’m super happy and still can’t quite believe that this win happened in such a prestigious event.”
Knowing that speedsters Jordan Coyle and McLain Ward, a perennial winner of the prix, were coming after he rode in the tie-breaker, he explained, “I had to do what I could to make them chase the time.”
It worked out because if McLain had gone clear, he would have been faster in 36.87-seconds, but two rails kept him in sixth place.
Young Americans Mimi Gochman (Inclen BH/38.58 seconds) and Alex Matz (Ikigai) were second and third, with Alex posting the fastest 4-fault round in 39.09 seconds aboard the Dutch stallion.
“I was really working on being consistent, clear and not too reckless in the jump-off,” Mimi said after her double-clear performance.
“I was super happy with my horse today. He’s an incredibly scopey, careful horse. I tried very hard to present everything to go smoothly for him, and I couldn’t be happier with him.”
For his part, Alex commented, “I have an unbelievable horse. Since I first got him, I’ve thought he is the best horse I’ve ever ridden. I’m so happy to have him with me at this level.”
For his overall record during the week, McLain won the Longines Rider Championship, a title he previously took in 2021. This time, he was on a new mount, High Star Hero.
“A very special thanks to Michael and Wendy Smith for the opportunity to ride this horse and for Thaisa (Erwin) for producing him to this level,” McLain said, referring to the Australian who was Hero’s previous rider.
“Getting to know him at the Hampton Classic is a bit of a sharp learning curve,” observed McLain who had started riding the horse only five days before the grand prix.
“I would have liked to have pulled up a little bit from home; maybe we came in a bit too fast there,” he said.
“I’m glad Nick Granat had the opportunity to be here and design the course. I thought it rode well, and the rollback to the final line created something of a bogey fence. It’s a shame the horse didn’t go clear, but there is a bit of luck involved in our sport. He is a great horse, and I think we’re going to have a great future.”
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