Wilmington, Ohio – Wilmington, Ohio – Competition for Winter Classic 14 concluded at World Equestrian Center – Wilmington on Sunday, March 19. Izzy Beisel (USA) stole the spotlight Saturday as she raced to the win in the $30,000 Grand Prix. In the R+L Arena, Melissa Donnelly (USA) took her second consecutive win in the 15,000 USHJA National Open 3’ Hunter Derby.
Beisel conquered Joseph Carnicom’s (USA) tracks Saturday evening in the Sanctuary arena. The junior rider of David Beisel Stables in Goshen, Ohio, piloted her ten-year-old Selle Francais, Diaz Barbotiere (Messire Ardent x Quambera Barbotiere), gelding to a blistering fast time of 34.050 seconds in the jump-off to take the win in the $30,000 Grand Prix.
“When I walked the course, I wasn’t as nervous as I usually am for this class,” Beisel laughed. “It was a challenging course, but I think we are getting in the groove and figuring it out. Diaz is definitely getting a lot more experience backing off the bigger jumps. I was trying to have a nice jump-off round. I already know my horse is fast and I like to think that I am a pretty quick rider! I just wanted to go in and have a little fun.”
Sam Pegg (CAN) bested the $10,000 GGT-Footing Futures Prix once again aboard Claas (Quiran x Braune). Pegg, of Ten Sixty Stables, piloted his eight-year-old Holsteiner gelding to the only double clear effort of the class to capture the win.
Pegg commented on his rides in the Sanctuary, “Both of the horses in this class jumped nicely. It started with a couple of oxers and a tight turn to the first line, but he has a natural big stride that it is never a problem for him to make a distance. In the jump-off I wanted to turn inside from one back to jump three and find that right out of the corner. The rest of it was pretty open and he could just use his ryhtm and travel across the ground.”
Donnelly, of Just A Folly Farm in Oxford, Michigan, piloted Cinda (VDL Douglas x What Pride) to the win in the $15,000 USHJA National Open 3’ Hunter Derby sponsored by GGT-Footing. The seasoned professional posted scores of 85 and 85.5 aboard the 18-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare for a two round total of 170.5 to top the class.
Donnelly spoke on winning mount, “Cinda is 18-years-old now and she has been doing the derbies for a while. She is a ton of fun out there. We stick to the low options just to protect her and not risk anything. She was able to follow and flow today so nicely through all the turns and options. It was definitely fun for her! It feels really good to break what felt like a streak of just sitting happily in the ribbons, and it is especially exciting to put the win on this one. She is probably the hardest for me to ride. You do it her way and you stay out of her way!”
In the $15,000 USHJA National Non-Pro 3’ Hunter Derby, Katie Finley (USA) landed the win with her own Co-Pilot (Numero Uno x V-Cassiano). Finley, training out of Houdini Farms in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, posted scores of 89 and 89 aboard her nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding. With an overall score of 177, they landed their first derby win together.
Finley shared on her two high-scoring rounds, “The left bending line was really hard for him because he naturally lands right. Other than that, it rode really well for him, really forward. He likes to swap from the right to the left, so I was cautious of that and had a feel of the right rein. I made sure to move up in the last line because I know lot of people were chipping there in eight. I wanted to make the handy as handy as I could. I knew since I was coming back in second I needed to go all out and I knew that I had to make all of the turns to move up. He held his leads strong up the last line even though it was a tad bit tight and flowed nicely through the two-stride!”
Cooper Beisel (USA) earned his first welcome win of his career on Thursday evening with Azealia (Quintero x Salma). The young amateur rider, training at David Beisel Stables in Goshen, Ohio, gave the audience a glimpse of what his future show jumping career has in store as he bested a field of professionals. The 15-year-old Holsteiner mare galloped through the timers in 31.379 to take the lead.
Beisel commented on the evening’s track, “I thought the course was great tonight, I loved it! There were enough straight lines and not too many bending lines with unrelated numbers that it was too technical. This course suited her [Azealia] perfectly. Both turns in the course that were the hardest for most people fit my horse well since she turns well to the right. There weren’t any hard left turns which really helped me.”
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Results can be found at wec.net.
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