mission - Horsetrader.com

mission
Speed keys GP win
for Pearce, Chianto
in San Juan Capo
Amy McCool photo
On a
from horsetrader staff reports
S
AN JUAN CAPISTRANO—On a couple
of cool, breezy afternoons, Blenheim
EquiSports presented two stellar high
performance events, the $50,000 Blenheim
Spring Classic III Grand Prix, presented by
Equine Insurance, and this season’s first
$10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby,
both on the International Grand Prix Field
eld
during the April 10-14 meet.
Exciting twists and turns captivated com-petitors and spectators alike. With grand
d
prix prize money increased by more than
n 20
percent for Week III of the Blenheim Spring
Series, course designer Leopoldo Palacios
intentionally built a tough track.
“From the three weeks, this is the week with
the most money,” Palacios said. “I needed it to
be a touch harder than the other weeks. The
field of riders is good, so I built a more difficult
course.”
Th irty-nine pairs attempted to master the
tight time-allowed, distance and scope challenges, including a flowing first line, a bending
line from three to a light skinny plank jump
as the fourth obstacle followed by a triple
combination set at a tough angle directly off
the arena fence. Lines got tighter towards the
end of the course, making the time allowed a
factor. Th is technicality caught up with three
riders who had no jumps down but finished
with time faults.
“My way of building and what I want doesn’t
always happen,” the course designer laughs. “A
course is not one distance—it’s a flow and a lot
of distances together. From one to two, already
the distance is a little bit forward. But I put
John Pearce and Chianto enjoy a victory lap after winning the $50,000 Blenheim Spring III Grand
Prix April 13.
this forward so they make decision to add or
go forward. At the end I have short distances.
I change the mind of the horse several times
and this is where they have faults.”
It wasn’t until the 14th horse on course,
21-year-old Saer Coulter and Springtime,
owned by Copernicus Stables LLC, did a duo
keep all jumps in the cups within the time
allowed. Having ridden her Don VHP Z earlier in the class with just four faults, Coulter
knew what she needed to do. Five rounds
after Coulter, Enrique Gonzales of Mexico
matched that effort going clean aboard his
own Criptonite. Twelve rides later, with only
six remaining, two more managed to join the
jump-off group—Canadian John Pearce on the
trusty Chianto, owned by Forest View Farm,
and Lucy Davis riding Old Oak Farm’s Barron.
Two young women and two experienced
men in a jump-off with long galloping lines
meant speed and agility would prevail.
“He’s 17 years old, but like wine,
he’s just getting better with age.”
—John Pearce
on Chianto
Admirably, each of the four was double clear
with solid times. First to go Coulter and
Springtime set the pace in an impressive
40.44. Next in Gonzales and the powerful
Criptonite tried to catch Coulter, but didn’t
quite succeed with a time of 41.16. Edging out
Coulter, John Pearce and Chianto clocked in
at 38.62. Last to go was Davis on Barron, also
double clean in 40.80, just tenths of a second
slower than Coulter. Veterans Pearce and
Chianto claimed victory.
“The horse just seems to be getting better,”
said Pearce, in his sixth year riding Chianto.
“He’s 17 years old, but like wine, he’s just getting better with age. He really likes himself a
lot. He wants to act like the tough guy but he’s
actually kind of mushy inside.”
Three couples turned in great rounds but
stopped the clock just over the 85-second time
allowed for two time faults apiece - Jonathan
Asselin with Attache Stables’ Showgirl,
Josephina Nor-Lantzman on her own Chello Z
and Saree Solanki aboard Olympiade des Gres,
owned by Tomboy Farms.
Seven horse-and rider-combinations fi nished with a four-fault score in round one, the
fastest five of those fi nished eighth through
twelfth, including Coulter’s third entry
Carmena Z, two entries from Signe Ostby’s
string - Quanto Fino 2 with Eric Navet
and Karl Cook aboard ASB Conquistador,
Amy McCool photo
Nick Haness and Gelato win the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby
April 12 at the Blenheim Spring III show.
Grey Fox Farm’s Bristol and
Rusty Stewart as well as Tiffany
Sullivan with Tristan, owned by
Haley Farms LLC.
In Friday’s big hunter competition, Joe Lombardo’s derby course
offered long flowing lines with
several options giving the four
esteemed judges, Joey Darby and
Brian Lenehan along with Tucker
Ericson and Penny Carpenter,
a chance to carefully study the
twenty-seven derby rides and
twelve handy rounds. First round
standouts included Jamie Taylor
on Jennifer Stillman’s Queen
Latifa, earning an 89 / 88, Jenny
Karizissis riding Harriet Posner’s
Victory Road with an 86 / 84 and
Nick Haness on Pam Stewart’s
Captiva ranking high with an
85.5 / 85.
As we often see in the Handy
Round, spooks, stops and mishaps
can change placings. The victory
gallop was ridden by Haness but
aboard Conor Perrin’s Gelato,
who was superb in the handy
after finishing fifth in round one.
The pair barely beat Karizissis on
Victory Road. Hap Hansen and
Shelly Lachow’s Anomaly leapt up
to third place after earning solid
handy scores.
Blenheim EquiSports will
move to Del Mar in May with
the Ranch and Coast Classic, featuring another $10,000 USHJA
International Hunter Derby
and the $60,000 Grand Prix of
California.
MORE ONLINE: http://35A_Blen
$50,000 Blenheim Spring Classic III Grand Prix
presented by Equine Insurance
PLACE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
HORSE
Chianto
Springtime
Barron
Criptonite
Chello Z
Showgirl
Olympiade des Gres
Carmena Z
Quanto Fino 2
Bristol
ASB Conquistador
Tristan
Place
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Horse
Gelato
Victory Road
Anomaly
Bentley
Winfield
Coffee Talk
Ninja
Captiva
Queen Latifa
C Coast Z
Flirt
Soldier
RIDER
John Pearce
Saer Coulter
Lucy Davis
Enrique Gonzales
Josephina Nor-Lantzman
Jonathan Asselin
Saree Solanki
Saer Coulter
Eric Navet
Rusty Stewart
Karl Cook
Tiffany Sullivan
OWNER
Forest View Farm
Copernicus Stables, LLC
Old Oak Farm
Enrique Gonzales
Josephina Nor Stables
Attache Stables
Tomboy Farms
Copernicus Stables, LLC
Signe Ostby
Grey Fox Farm
Signe Ostby
Haley Farms, LLC
FAULTS/TIME
0/0/38.629
0/0/40.443
0/0/40.807
0/0/41.446
2/86.055
2/86.077
2/86.786
4/80.034
4/82.153
4/82.508
4/83.164
4/83.951
$10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby
Rider
Nick Haness
Jenny Karazissis
Hap Hansen
Melissa Doddridge
Taylor Ann Adams
Whitney Downs
Nicole Haunert
Nick Haness
Jamie Taylor
Tiffany Sullivan
Grady Lyman
Laura Mormann
Owner
Conor Perrin
Harriet Posner
Shelly Lachow
Pamela Doddridge
Hannah Stabler
Whitney Downs
Paul Haunert
Pam Stewart
Jennifer Stillman
Haley Farms, LLC
Penelope Murray
Elizabeth Gabler
Total Score
371
370.5
368
345
344
342
330
294.5
280
264
264
165