This weekend was quite a busy one both north and south on the grand prix show jumping front.
McLain Ward got himself back on his usual winning track in Virginia, after a miss in Devon’s big class earlier in the month, while Laura Chapot went 1-2 at Saugerties, N.Y. And then Colombian John Perez earned his first Spruce Meadows 5-star win in Canada.
McLain pulled out yet another entry from his vast string of horses, Quimi del Maset, to top a field of 30. There was a six-horse jump-off over a Nicholas Granat-designed course in the 4-Star $226,000 feature at the USA’s oldest horse show, presented by Mars Equestrian at Upperville, Va. His double-clear in 37.70 seconds edged Canadian star Tiffany Foster on Figor (38.11).
In Saugerties at HITS’ $100,000 Voltaire Grand Prix, Laura had the only double-clear to win with her reliable Chandon Blue.
Her Diadora’s Flying Dutchman was second with the fastest four-fault trip. He’s exciting to watch, and apparently, to ride as well.
“Diadora’s Flying Dutchman is such a unique horse because you can always have a plan going in the ring, but sometimes that plan just is not always followed,” she explained.
“You have to feel what’s under you, and one minute he might be leaving out a stride, the next minute he might be adding, but he tries very hard over every jump. He has a lot of energy and he has a lot of ability, but he just needs to stay focused on his job, and then he’s great.”
On the other side of the border, John Perez put in a lightning 45.32-second trip with Gigi-Carmen, which gave him a good margin over runner-up Darragh Kenny of Ireland on Arna ‘T Kruisveld (47.53).