McLain Ward, who has piled up triumph after triumph since winning the first leg of the Rolex Grand Slam in Geneva last December, had to settle for sixth place tonight in the $500,000 Rolex 5-star Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
Richard Vogel took a victory lap after winning the $500,000 Rolex Grand Prix.
The 40-horse field faced quite a challenge at the Wellington International showgrounds on the course designed by Guilherme Jorge.
German rider Richard Vogel on Cepano Baloubet was one of only two contenders in the seven-horse jump-off to finish fault free, winning by an amazing 8.62-second margin over Colombia’s Roberto Teran on Dez’ Ooktoff, who wisely decided to go for a clear rather than time.
McLain was aboard HH Azur, the mare on whom he won at Geneva as well as the second leg of the Rolex Grand Slam series in the Netherlands. She was also his ride six years ago in Omaha, when he won the FEI World Cup Finals for the first time.
Luck was not with him, as he had rails down at both the Rolex double, as well as the vertical that followed it. His total was 12 faults in 40.6 seconds.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Richard.
“Two weeks ago, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to do this horse in this big a grand prix. But, he felt really good and then we thought, ‘We’re here and he’s in very good shape, so let’s give it a try,’ and he was amazing.”
“My plan was not to risk too much in the jump-off, but also to put the pressure on the ones coming after me so they had to risk a bit more to be faster and I was lucky it all worked out,” said Richard, who had four international wins during the 2023 season at WEF.
Cepano Baloubet just found a new home in Richard’s stable after Veronica and Molly Tracy purchased the gelding for him to compete.
“I first rode this horse when he was six, and not too long after the horse came to our stable with the same owner and we were able to produce him. In January, they purchased the horse for me to keep it in the stable, so I’m lucky to have such good owners and so much trust in those people.”
Guilherme Jorge’s course map for the $500,000 class.
Explaining his strategy, Roberto said of his horse, “I knew he wouldn’t have the foot speed to take a win but was thrilled with the second-place finish.
“When I bought this horse, he was quite green at this level,” said Roberto, who represented Colombia in the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games.
“He’s not a fast horse, but he’s consistent in clear rounds. I’m ecstatic with him because we’ve been working with him for more than three years and he’s now very consistent at this level.
“I wasn’t going to pass Richard, or Mclain, or anyone else going fast, so I wanted to go double clear and hope for some mistakes and it worked out,” he added.
Richard, 26, and McLain, 47, will face off again this week in Omaha, which hosts the Cup finals for the second time. McLain will be aboard Callas, while Richard rides United Touch S.