It was a marathon.
The $38,700 Mainline Challenge lasted two hours, with 47 horses competing in the two-phase competition at the Devon Horse Show Wednesday night, as the four-in-hands waiting for the next class cooled their heels for more than an hour.
The class, an update of the old Power and Speed format, involved jumping six fences as a preliminary to fences seven through 12, taken at a fast clip. The route, designed by Anderson Lima of Peru, had nearly half the starters finishing without jumping faults.
Laura Chapot, who is known for being quick, set the pace to catch on Chandon Blue, 10th to go. Clocked at 31.09 seconds, she looked unbeatable for the next 35 rounds. Then McLain Ward came into the ring with First Lady, a mount who has been developing ove the last three years for owner Robin Parsky, who also has horses with world number one. Henrik von Eckermann.
McLain’s mark of 30.69 had staying power. The only entry that came close was British rider Jessica Mendoza on Changing Tatum, third from the end. But she took her horse back at the final fence, a sturdy dark green oxer, which meant she missed the mark. Her time of 30.73 seconds put her second.
McLain is understandably excited about the elegant First Lady, an Oldenburg displaying a refined thoroughbred look.
“The mare has super quality and is a wonderful type horse, a beautiful model. She had to learn the ropes a little bit,” McLain said.
“She always was a spectacular jumper. Now she’s really figuring the sport out and the results are starting to show that.”