It was nearly everything a show jumper could hope for–a victory in a 4-star grand prix worth $213,300, over a track laid out by an Olympic course designer, and against an all-star field that included some of the sport’s biggest names, McLain Ward and Kent Farrington among them..
Only one element for a perfect class was lacking as Devin Ryan won the National Horse Show Grand Prix on Eddie Blue tonight: There wasn’t a cheering crowd to salute his achievement, because Covid rules meant fans couldn’t attend the competition, which was watched in person by just a few exhibitors. And Devin really missed having spectators at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena when he went through the timers in 35.13 seconds as the pathfinder in a seven-horse jump-off.
Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue on their way to winning the National Horse Show Grand Prix. (Photo by Elaine Wessel/Phelps Media Group)
“I wasn’t sure I jumped clean, because I rubbed a couple of back rails on a couple of oxers,” he told me.
“I go through the timers and there were a couple of people clapping, but it’s not like a roar that you get from a crowd to really know when you jump clean.” He wondered, “`Did I jump clean?’and then they announced it, and I was like, `Ah, yes.’ That was the only thing that was little bit weird.”
That’s if you don’t count having your temperature checked at the facility every day, but the routine is becoming old hat now for people showing through Covid.
Devin left nothing on the table for his colleagues. He won not only the Leading Rider title, he also collected the Groom’s Award, since he took care of Eddie himself all week. The only help the Long Valley horseman got was from Long Island friends, Myrna Treuting and her daughter Ali, who set fences for him.
Just one other rider, Spencer Smith, was clear in the tie-breaker over the Guilherme Jorge-designed course. He was aboard Quibelle from Georgina Bloomberg’s Gotham Enterprizes, finishing in 35.26 seconds. The fastest jump-off round, 33.71 seconds, belonged to Paul O’Shea on Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu, but he had a rail to finish third.
Devin taking his victory gallop. (Photo by Georgie Hammond/Phelps Media Group)
Eddie, an 11-year-old Dutch warmblood owned by LL Show Jumpers LLC, wowed the international ranks in 2018 by finishing second in the Longines FEI World Cup Finals in his first appearance at that competition and then being part of the U.S. gold medal team later that year at the FEI World Equestrian Games. Will the Olympics be next?
Last year, with the Tokyo Games scheduled for July 2020, Devin was “a little conservative with him, hoping to be a discretionary pick for the short list. Then Covid hit.”
He didn’t do much traveling once showing resumed, trying to run his business in New Jersey and knowing his customers didn’t want to travel too far. So he lived in a camper at HITS in Saugerties, N.Y., for much of the summer. Eddie was 12th in the $500,000 grand prix there, but after that series ended, he didn’t show for six weeks before going to Tryon, N.C.
“He’s doing what you want a championship horse to do,” said Devin. Eddie, a son of VDL Zirocco Blue, has been clear or had 4 faults since starting to show again, with the exception of his first class out, the Welcome at Tryon, where he had two rails down; Devin said he “felt rusty” after his layoff but soon got back into the game.
Noting that things are “sort of getting shut down right now” in Europe because of Covid, Devin is grateful for the shows in Tryon and Kentucky.
“I’m glad that they are holding these events and proving they can hold them and be safe,” he said.
“It’s good for the sport.”
