Wilmington, Ohio – Featured show jumping competition of Winter Spring Forward got underway Thursday evening with the $10,000 Welcome Stake sponsored by Kentucky Performance Products. International course designer Michael Pegg (CAN) crafted the tracks for the field of horse-and-athlete combinations, where Sam Pegg (CAN) and new top mount, Gin Tonic 158 (Graf Top x Sanjador) came out on top once again.
Pegg, of Ten Sixty Stables in Uxbridge, Ontario, set the quick pace for the group of starters as the first to jump a double clear effort and established a time to beat that was simply unattainable for the rest of the field.
“Gin Tonic was a little fresh today actually. He was back to jumping around today, when the buzzer went off he jumped up in the air,” laughed Pegg. “He is naturally so fast. He hears the buzzer, and his feet are already going. In the jump-off, I did one less stride across the line in the middle and he landed and turned quite short so we were lucky to be quick enough.”
The ten-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Gin Tonic 158, continues to prove his unmatched talent with consistent clear and fast trips around the indoor Sanctuary Arena. In a jump-off time 37.441 seconds, the duo proved unbeatable.
Pegg spoke on the differing strategies for his three rides in the class, “Big Girl has such a naturally big stride, so the lines always ride easy for her. There were a few bending lines that some people did one more and one less. With Gin Tonic, I decided to add because he was getting a little strong, so I did one more stride in two places in the first round and it worked out. Carissima is a younger horse, she is eight and owned by Tom and Donna Leetz. We decided that I would show her again this week and she has only jumped one or two 1.35m classes and she just had one silly jump down today, so we were very happy with her.”
Junior rider Izzy Beisel (USA) of David Beisel Stables in Goshen, Ohio, entered on her second mount of the class Vegas H (Valentino x Cobrah) looking to top Pegg’s time. The ten-year-old Hanoverian gelding secured an effortless double clear with Beisel in the irons, but fell just shy of the leading time, securing second place in 37.797 seconds.
Megan Bash (USA) piloted her own Jackson VDL (Zirocco Blue VDL x Design O) to third place. Recent winners of the $30,000 Grand Prix, the duo jumped in top form over the track. The nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding laid down a consistent jump-off round in 38.359 seconds to round out the podium.
$10,000 Kentucky Performance Products Welcome Stake Results:
1 Gin Tonic 158, Sam Pegg, Ten Sixty Stables | 0 | 37.441
2 Vegas H, Izzy Beisel, David Beisel | 0 | 37.797
3 Jackson VDL, Megan Bash, Cleveland Equestrian | 0 | 38.359
4 Diaz Barbotiere, Izzy Beisel, Izzy Beisel | 4 | 64.184
5 Kinsella, Charlotte Clark, Charlotte Clark | 4 | 68.217
6 Quintessential WF, Kristen Hillier, Nancy Mulholland | 4 | 68.542
7 Carissima, Sam Pegg, Donna Leetz | 4 | 70.456
8 Fortysix & 2, Lyriss Jaeger, Lyriss Jaeger | 4 | 74.455
9 Big Girl Z, Sam Pegg, Ten Sixty Stables | 8 | 69.076
10 Iconic, Lani Hutchison, Lani Hutchison | 8 | 69.237
Make sure to visit the WEC Blog and follow us on social media @worldequestriancenter for full coverage on all feature classes!
Results can be found at HorseShowing.com.
All horse show images are provided by Winslow Photography and can be purchased onsite at WEC – Wilmington or online through their website.