Ocala, FL – The $117,000 LeMieux Grand Prix Qualifier CSI4* brought 40 top international athletes from 13 nations to the WEC Grand Arena, all vying for top honors. In the end, it was Aaron Vale (USA) and Thinkslikeahorse’s Gray’s Inn (Cannavaro x Oscar) who secured their second Grand Prix Qualifier win of the 2025 Winter Spectacular Show Series, taking home the lion’s share of the prize money.
FEI Level III course designer Ken Krome (USA) set a welcoming track for the day’s featured class, with 18 combinations delivering fault-free rounds to advance to the jump-off.
Vale (USA) qualified both of his mounts for the short course and set a quick standard aboard Styles in 34.42 seconds. “Styles jumped super and I was thrilled with him, but then I was a little miffed when I got beat so quickly by Jad [Dana]. He took a fair bit off my time, so I was pretty motivated mentally at that moment to try to win.”
“Gray’s Inn doesn’t have quite as big of a stride as Styles, and I felt like I got similar strides, except maybe to the last jump—I know I did one less there for sure—but with a little smaller stride, the same number of strides is faster because he’s working harder and stretching more. I felt like I was fast from one to two and up to the combination. I was really hoping to do one less back to the vertical, which unfortunately I didn’t get done. But after that, I just ran home and told myself I am not slowing down.”
The pair soared over the final vertical, stopping the clock at an unbeatable 31.99 seconds.
“He’s been a great partner. My wife did a lovely job with him, and it was her idea to let me ride him for a little. He’s been great in these classes and is always fun to ride,” shared Vale about the 11-year-old Warmblood gelding.
Daniel Bluman (ISR) came closest to catching Vale aboard Over the Top Stables LLC’s Gemma W (Luidam x Unaniem). Bluman and the 14-year-old KWPN mare blazed around the course, clocking in at 32.45 seconds to finish second.
Ireland’s Simon McCarthy rounded out the podium with another strong performance, guiding the 14-year-old Holsteiner gelding Gotcha (Stakkato x Cassini I) to third place with a quick jump-off time of 32.68 seconds.
$117,000 LeMieux Grand Prix Qualifier CSI4* Results
1 GRAY’S INN: 2014 Warmblood gelding by Cannavaro x Oscar
Aaron Vale (USA), Thinkslikeahorse: 0/0/31.99
2 GEMMA W: 2011 KWPN mare by Luidam x Unaniem
Daniel Bluman (ISR), Over The Top Stables LLC: 0/0/32.45
3 GOTCHA: 2011 Holsteiner mare by Stakkato x Cassini I
Simon Mccarthy (IRL), Rock Ridge Farms: 0/0/32.68
4 IGOR GPH: 2013 KWPN gelding by Harley x Crawford 5
Kara Chad (CAN), Fordville Farm Corp: 0/0/33.16
5 ITCHCOCK DES DAMES: 2014 Belgian Sport Horse by Marius Claudius x Calvaro F.c.
Jad Dana (LBN), The Itchy Group: 0/0/33.70
6 STYLES: 2016 Belgian Warmblood gelding by Cornet Obolensky x Canturo
Aaron Vale (USA), Donald Stewart & Debbie Smith: 0/0/34.42
7 COCO BEACH: 2012 Holsteiner mare by Casall x San Patrignano Corrado
Richie Moloney (IRL), Equinimity LLC: 0/0/36.39
8 COOL RAY NA: 2014 North American Sport Horse stallion by Quincy Car x Kannan
Fernando Cardenas (COL), B&C, LLC: 0/0/36.86
9 OBORA’S CHLOE: 2011 Austrian Warmblood [AWO] mare by Chacco-blue x Lacapo
Raleigh Hiler (USA), Kurt Hiler: 0/0/37.13
10 LOS ANGELES DE LA CENSE: 2014 Westphalian gelding by Los Angeles x Lancer III
Adrienne Sternlicht (USA), Starlight Farms 1 LLC: 0/0/37.54
Explore the daily class schedule, orders of go, class counts, and final results on HorseShowing.com. For real-time scoring, check out Ryegate.Live.
Photos courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.
Videos available at ClipMyHorse.TV
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