“She is my speed horse,” said Springsteen. “The faster you go the more confidence she has. She doesn’t look fast, she has a big belly and just wanders around the barn, but she really turns on in the ring.”
Mattias Tromp followed Springsteen into the ring and left in second place. His time aboard Avon was 71.37 seconds, not quite fast enough for the lead but fast enough to edge ahead of Lucy Deslauriers, who had been the class leader until Springsteen’s round.
“I thought the place to try and win it was at number 3, the skinny fence,” said Tromp. “I think one less stride at the last jump would have been good, but I don’t think it would have changed my placing.”
Deslauriers and her mount Hester held on for third place with a time of 72.90, but she was very happy with her result. “I called my dad (Olympic veteran Mario Deslauriers) to find out how fast he thought I should go,” said Deslauriers.
“I am trying to get more experience at the Grand Prix level and my horse performs well on grass fields so I was very happy to come here rather than stay in Wellington. A second and a third in the two classes today, I think coming here was a good choice.”
