Ocala, FL – The $15,000 Buckeye Nutrition Futures Prix once again stole the spotlight on Saturday afternoon, featuring a field of promising horse-and-rider pairs tackling a challenging track crafted by FEI Level III course designer Catsy Cruz (MEX). Amid the competition, only two competitors achieved a double-clear effort, with Devin Ryan (USA) clinching the fastest time aboard his new partner, Cenccon PS, owned by John Jamieson.
Devin Ryan (USA) entered the WEC Grand Arena toward the end of the order with Cenccon PS. The pair managed to navigate a clear first round to advance to the immediate jump-off.
Ryan shared his thoughts about the imposing first-round track, “I think it wasn’t so much the size of the track, I think the material caught a few horses. WEC has really good material, and I think there were some new panels for the triple combination. I think for some reason the design of it had horses looking down into it and that caught a few off guard.”
Despite having ridden the 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding in only one previous class, Ryan capitalized on Cenccon PS’s big stride, “Just from riding him in one class the other day, I knew he had a very big step. So, I worked on using his length of stride to my advantage. I was able to leave out a stride to the blue vertical across the middle to the liver pool, and in the last line, it walked a nice eight, but I planned for seven. I was actually able to stay out in the seven and keep a good rhythm.”
Clocking in at 35.679 seconds, Ryan and Cenccon PS claimed victory, making the start to their partnership a successful one. “I showed him yesterday in the 1.35m and won that. And came to do this today and here we are again,” laughed Ryan. “He’s a great horse. Carly [Campbell-Cooper] brought him over from Europe and built him up through Jamieson Sales. I think he’s going to be an incredible horse and for sure a grand prix horse in the future.”
Ryan enjoyed the crowd at World Equestrian Center – Ocala this afternoon, “For a class on a Saturday afternoon, not even an evening class, there was a bit of a crowd, and they got into it. I was going down through the triple, and the horse was looking a bit, but I made it through and the crowd was clapping. As a rider, you notice those things even when you’re on course.”
Aidan Smith-Fullerton (CAN) was the only other athlete able to find a double-clear effort. He piloted Melinda Cohen’s 17-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding S & L Sage (Wandor Van De Mispelaere x Bonbon VII De Ninive) to quick and clear jump-off in 38.369 seconds to ultimately take home second place.
Vaclav Stanek (CZE), piloting Ariel Grange’s 10-year-old Warmblood mare Langley (Lansdowne x Pitareusa), delivered the fastest jump-off round in a mere 33.680 seconds, but fell victim to one unlucky rail for third place.
$15,000 Buckeye Nutrition Futures Prix Results:
1 Cenccon PS, Devin Ryan, John Jamieson: 0 | 0 | 35.679
2 S & L Sage, Aidan Smith-Fullerton, Melinda Cohen: 0 | 0 | 38.369
3 Langley, Vaclav Stanek, Ariel Grange: 0 | 4 | 33.680
4 Amalia, Daniel Coyle, Ariel Grange: 0 | 4 | 36.979
5 Napoleon Of Picobello Z, Molly Ashe Cawley, Louisburg Farm: 0 | 4 | 38.572
6 Lena VDL, Daniel Coyle, Ariel Grange: 4 | 73.745
7 Menetto PS, Luis Sabino Goncalves, Perla Boord: 4 | 77.330
8 Loudon, Hannah Matts, Redfield Farm: 4 | 77.692
9 FF Mister Gold, Jill Gaffney, Freestyling Farms LLC: 4 | 79.923
10 Jalapeno Hedoniste, Rodrigo Lambre, Rodrigo Lambre: 8 | 72.878
Visit HorseShowing.com for final results.
Spectators are welcome! From now until March 24, 2024, experience the thrill of the 2024 Winter Spectacular Show Series at World Equestrian Center – Ocala. Explore the daily class schedule, orders of go, class counts, and final results on HorseShowing.com. For real-time scoring, check out Ryegate.Live.
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