Cedric shines in The $150,000 Ocala Grand Prix

Cedric shines in The $150,000 Ocala Grand Prix
Of the 39 who started the class, seven qualified to jump off. And it was quite an international field, with Juan Pablo Betancourt of Colombia, Sofia Larrea B and Nicolas Pizzaro of Mexico, Thieme of Germany, Babington from Ireland and two U.S. riders—Kraut and Georgina Bloomberg—facing off.

Eventually it was Cedric and rider Laura Kraut who topped the Grand Prix. “Today Cedric was more like he normally is. He was on form and I felt as confident as I could feel,” Kraut said.

Babington and Shorapur were a crucial part of the Irish team’s winning effort in the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup two days before, putting in two clean rounds. In the Grand Prix the pair made it to the Second spot.

Andre Thieme, a German rider who frequently spends his winters at HITS Ocala and won the Great American $1 Million Grand Prix in Ocala in 2014, was just in his first week of showing in Florida, so he was pleased to be third in his first big class of the circuit with Conthendrix. “My horse is not the fastest horse. He’s still developing and he’s getting faster and faster, but I knew with [Laura and Kevin] still to go I knew it was going to be hard to win. I’m very happy to be third,” Thieme said.

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