Casady was the final rider in a six-horse jump-off riding Vanilla for Abigail Wexner. Crossing the timers clear in 43.298 seconds, Casady topped second-place finisher TJ O’Mara by half of a second for the win. O’Mara of Rumson, NJ, piloted Queen Jane, owned by Walstib Stables, LLC, to a final time of 43.770 seconds. Christina Firestone of Upperville, VA, finished third riding Arwen for Mr. & Mrs. Bertram Firestone with the fastest four-fault jump-off round in 40.518 seconds. Sydney Shulman of Greenwich, CT, placed fourth riding Wamira, owned by BCF Group, LLC, with four faults in 44.875 seconds. Rounding out the top five, Lucy Deslauriers of New York, NY, piloted Curo to a rail and a time fault in 50.808 seconds for owner Mario Deslauriers.
“There weren’t too many places where you could take a shot,” said Casady, who rides for John and Beezie Madden based in Cazenovia, NY. “My strategy was to give her the best chance she could to do the numbers and hope that since I was on a little faster mover I could make the time. A half of a second is a little too close for comfort, but I am glad to win.”
Casady piloted Vanilla, a 15-year-old Danish Warmblood mare (Nabab de Reve x Clinton), which is a former grand prix mount of Beezie Madden. According to Casady, the horse’s experience with Madden benefited him today, saying, “She has endless scope, a massive stride, and is as brave as they come. You can walk into any venue, any ring, and she is not going to blink an eye.”
O’Mara, 18, and Queen Jane had only been in one other jump-off before Saturday’s competition, but were the ones to beat until Casady’s final trip.
“She has always had the scope and the stride to do these classes,” said O’Mara of Queen Jane. “She was really a good prospect for me when we bought her. This past Florida we started really stepping her up into the bigger levels, the U25 classes, and the two stars. She’s coming along really nicely.”
Twenty-one-year-old Firestone rounded out the top three on a very familiar mount in Arwen. Bred by Firestone’s family, she got the ride on the 12-year-old mare at the start of its seven-year-old year.
“We’ve grown up together,” she said. “The biggest classes she has competed in are the biggest classes that I have done as well, and we’ve built a really good partnership over the years.”
Under 25 competition serves to bridge the gap between junior competition and the top grand prix level and has experienced popularity at the Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows during the past two years.
“As a young professional, I don’t have the financial backing to do this by myself,” concluded Casady. “This division gives me a place to showcase myself and to hopefully make a name for myself in order to break into the bigger classes and gain the support it takes to get to the top of the sport.”