Ocala, FL – Feature competition wrapped up this afternoon during week III of the 2023 Winter Spectacular Show Series. A top-level field consisting of 15 horse-and-rider combinations set out to challenge the closing tracks built by Anderson Lima (BRA) in the $15,000 Taylor Harris Insurance Services 1.45m Jumper Classic. Harold Chopping and the Rein Family LLC’s Quadrant 3 (Quadros x O-Carlotta) emerged victorious at the end of the class and galloped away with the top prize.
Fifteen elite competitors put forth their best effort over Lima’s first round track where seven ultimately qualified for the immediate jump-off. In the jump-off only three managed to keep all rails up during the short course and were separated by just a few tenths of a second.
Sam Pegg (CAN) kicked off the jump-off aboard his own Dolla 3. The pair put forth a good effort in 38.102 seconds, but fell victim to one rail down.
Sean Jobin (CAN) and Foxridge Farms Stable’s Cuba Libre V (Cornet Obolensky x Grace) were the next pair in to find a clear first round. Jobin and the 11-year-old Westphalian mare flew through the short course, leaving a stride out from three to four, to fly around the rest of the course stopping the clock at 37.532 seconds, setting the pace for the remainder of the class.
The next to qualify for the immediate jump-off was Daniel Geitner (USA) and Seth Vallhonrat’s Satellite (Grupo From Jirano x Pigony Van’t Scome). Geitner and ten-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare found an incredibly fast track shaving less than three tenths of a second off Jobin’s time in 37.236 seconds to take the lead.
Jilly Gaffney and FF Blade Runner followed. The pair put in a solid effort, but had one rail down in the process in 40.012 seconds.
Harold Chopping (USA) and the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding were the next combination to find a clear path in the first round.
Chopping used a bit of a different strategy in the jump-off for the big talented gelding, “He’s a big horse with a lot of talent, scope and a huge step. That’s always what I try to use to be fast. I count the number around the corners and leave out steps where I can, I have to be a little scientific about it. He has such an easy way of go, it’s all very methodical. I use the numbers to my advantage and use his step as my gauge.”
Chopping and Quadrant 3 started off on a gallop at the sound of the tone, “I did seven from one to two, then nine back to the double combination. I don’t think there was any less you could do there. I opted to do the six to the liver pool, I know Sean [Jobin] did five, but I didn’t think that was the right move for my horse. Then I rolled back to the oxer in nine and rolled back to the final vertical in nine.”
The pair soared through the timers in 37.122 seconds to snatch the victory.
$15,000 Taylor Harris Insurance Services 1.45m Jumper Classic Results:
1 Quadrant 3, Harold Chopping, Rein Family LLC: 0 | 0 | 37.122
2 Satellite, Daniel Geitner, Seth Vallhonrat: 0 | 0 | 37.236
3 Cuba Libre V, Sean Jobin, Foxridge Farms Stables: 0 | 0 | 37.532
4 Clever Van De Helle, Kyle Dewar, Kyle Dewar: 0 | 4 | 36.890
5 Dolla 3 Sam Pegg, Sam Pegg: 0 | 4 | 38.102
6 FF Blade Runner, Jill Gaffney, Freestyling Farms LLC: 0 | 4 | 40.012
7 Big Girl Z, Sam Pegg, Sam Pegg: 0 | 8 | 38.506
8 Sterrehof’s Edinus, Sean Jobin, Antrim Equestrian: 2 | 79.636
9 Sigma, Luis Sabino Goncalves, Sigma Stables LLC: 4 | 73.020
10 Ivaro N, Lisa Goldman-Smolen, Barbara Disko: 4 | 73.020
Photos courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.
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