The $35,000 1.45m Horseware® Ireland Speed Stake CSI 3* saw Karen Polle (JPN) and her own Little Lord 90 streak to the top of the honor roll as they completed the course in a blazing 64.82 seconds. Just behind her in second place was Daniel Bluman (ISR) aboard his own Bacara D'Archonfosse, a 2007 Belgian Warmblood mare (ASCA Z x Queen D'Archonfosse), finishing in 64.92 seconds, while Brianne Goutal (USA) took third place honors aboard Fineman, a 2003 Swedish Warmblood gelding (Feliciano x Kotiljong II) owned by Rose Hill Farm, stopping the timers at 65.47 seconds.
"Today went really well," said Polle. "I was lucky. The lines just came up really nice for me and it was perfect. My horse is really quick and has a lot of foot speed, so I just had to guide him around," she said of the 2005 Holsteiner gelding (Lasino x Remini).
Polle mentioned that her trainer, Rodrigo Pessoa, encouraged her to push herself in some spots throughout the course. "The first line I walked a forward eight and it ended up being really steady for me, and then on the second line I was going to do nine [strides] but my trainer, Rodrigo, told me to do eight. I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but I did, even though it was a little long."
The pair have been together since April so the gelding is still relatively new to her, "He's such a trier, he has such a good heart. He's so fast, so he's really fun. I just kind of zip around on him," she smiled.
"He's sort of a 1.45m or 1.50m horse, so this class is his specialty. I hope we'll keep getting better and better at these," she concluded. "This was my best placing this week, so it's been the highlight so far!"
Click here for a full list of results for the $35,000 1.45m Horseware® Ireland Speed Stake CSI 3*.