Show jumping athletes took to the Grand Prix Arena on Saturday afternoon for the $40,000 Go Rentals Grand Prix to compete for top honors and the lion’s share of prize money. Twenty-nine rider-horse pairs rode the first course, designed by Ken Krome, with the goal of navigating it clearly and in the allotted time. With a total of six clear first laps, the athletes advanced through the shortened course, where speed has become the name of the game. Otsby coming out on top and taking the win. The $1,000 EquiFit U25 Classic was held overlay with the feature class, and Mitch Endicott and entry Chaccrobat of Bridgeport Farms LLC took the win.
Krome set a twisty course of 13 obstacles and 16 total jumping efforts, with flex lines, a vertical-oxer-vertical triple combination, a double oxer-vertical combination and a careful Liverpool vertical. Fences fell on the course, but specifically at fence one and down the triple combination, which was a very careful two-stride triggering a long approach.
Bruno Diniz Das Neves and Adele XIII were the first to jump the track flawlessly and within the time limit. Returning for the shoot-off, Diniz tried to put time to beat and put pressure on the remaining five competitors, but had a down rail that ultimately put him fourth. Kaitlin Campbell and Mitch Endicott also racked up fouls, leaving just three to go and no double clear efforts so far. Cassio Rivetti, fresh off major Grand Prix wins at the National Sunshine Series and Desert Holiday in 2021, rode the short course with Cristal De Menardiere, a 10-year-old gelding owned by Delaney Batter, and quickly jumped to the top of the ranking showing the first double clear in 41.288 seconds. Lisa Carlsen and Livestream 2, a 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding, picked up the pace and eventually beat Rivetti’s time, albeit down a rail to take third overall.
Karl Cook, who last won the Desert Holiday Grand Prix with the same mount, an 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare, was the last competitor for the short course, and the pair galloped off the fence one to two short of strides. than most of the other participants before coiling tightly to the double suit and flying effortlessly across the Grand Prix arena, keeping all fences intact. He cleared the stopwatches in 39.981 seconds, taking the lead and winning the class.
Show jumping will resume on Sunday to conclude Desert Circuit I with the $5,000 1.35m Open Classic in the Grand Prix Arena and the $10,000 Interactive Mortgage 10 & Under Futurity in Jumper 1. Desert Circuit II, starting Wednesday, will mark the start of FEI international competition in the Grand Prix arena.
FROM THE WINNERS’ CIRCLE
Karl Cook – $40,000 Go Rentals Grand Prize Winner
At the dam:
“In closing one, the stopwatches were slightly tilted, so you couldn’t get to the approach you wanted, you had to kind of put it on a turn. There was an eight from one to two, but you had to close one really well. Everyone kind of had nine because that eight is really on the right track. But she just followed so easily and landed on the inside track to close out two and we did the eight perfectly. I knew then that I was on time, and so I saw one less go into the double, but I said ‘You know what, it’s along the fence. I know I’m on time – because I watched Cassio leave – let’s just add, let’s do something a little more conversational. Then she landed from the double and accelerated and I was like, ‘Okay, we’re still fine.’ So I saw one less at the black oxer – closing 4/15 – but, again, I added because I was convinced my time was still good. We landed and she cut such a hard edge at the oxer – the fence five – and we did it out of stride and just awesome. We landed and started spinning. I had one less in my eye until the penultimate, but she spun so hard on landing that we actually lost a bit of traction. At this point, it was just safer to add to the penultimate. And then seven strides, even though I was under the penultimate, the penultimate seven did not continue.
On Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet and their partnership:
“I’ve had it for about three years now. She’s super hot, super fiery. Looks like a ‘gamer’. She has the game and she loves to do it, sometimes too much where she jumps in the air and it’s a bit wild. She understands the purpose of the game and it’s so much fun to ride because she understands. It’s a partner who is right there with you and sometimes drags you along saying, ‘Here, let’s do this not that!’ It’s so much fun to ride.
On the character of Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet:
“Well, she’s very small and in the barn she’s very sweet and easy and calm. Everything in the barn is super easy. When you go to ride her, she’s very hot. Some days, like earlier this week, I petted her for about an hour straight and she kept tugging and thrashing I took her back to the barn and then Jenny rode her later and rode her for another 30-45 minutes She has so much energy you just have to stay on top She needs that physical condition and strength to do it and you just have to as a rider stay on top so it doesn’t get out of control .
On Karl’s goals for the circuit on Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet:
“I’m here for this week and next week, then I’m going to Florida. Next week she will do the 3*, so I just hope to continue what was going well here this week until next week. There were a few issues, especially in the first round, where my riding wasn’t as accurate as it should have been. So I need to fix these issues so I can give her an easier job so she doesn’t have to save me. I do my part better.
On DIHP:
“They’ve invested a lot of money and they’re continuing to put in a good effort and I think that’s obvious. People are happier to be here. Horses are happier to be here. And not only people are happier, but their numbers are up from several years ago, so all signs are that people are happy with all the hard work the horse park has put in.
$40,000 Go Rentals Grand Prize
Location / Horse / Rider / Owner / Faults R1 | R1 Time / R2 Faults | R2 time
1. Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet / Karl Cook / Signe Otsby / 0 | 74.832 / 0 | 39.981
2. Crista De Ménardière / Cassio Rivetti / Delaney Batter / 0 | 80.098 / 0 | 41.288
3. Live Stream 2 / Lisa Carlsen / Lisa Carlsen / 0 | 78.683 / 4 | 40.292
4. Adele XIII / Bruno Diniz Das Neves / BDN Horse Investments / 0 | 79.775 / 4 | 43.034
5. Chaccrobat / Mitch Endicott / Bridgeport Farms LLC / 0 | 82.297 / 4 | 46.561
6. Armentos / Kaitlin Campbell / SWS Training and Sales / 0 | 80.726 / 24 | 68.309
7. Arc De Triomphe / Nick Gegen / 4 | 74.214
8. Bonita VH Keizershof Z / Ali Ramsay / Ramsay Equestrian, Inc. / 4 | 75.871
9. Cerafina / Jessica Gleason / Jessica Gleason / 4 | 76.425
10. Calgary IV / Nicole Haunert / Cherokee Show Horses Inc. / 4 | 78.836
Full results here.
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