Hilary McNerney (USA) set a pace that couldn’t be caught in Saturday afternoon’s $30,000 Traverse City National Grand Prix in the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring during the second week of the Traverse City Spring Series at Flintfields Horse Park. First in the ring, first to jump-off and first to the winners’ circle, the Illinois-native piloted her own Brava to top call.
Over courses designed by Bernardo Costa Cabral’s (POR), McNerney was quick and tidy in the irons of her 10-year-old Hanoverian mare (Balou Du Rouet x Graf Top). They set the early pace at 31.722 seconds, and barely held on throughout the six-horse jump-off.
Nikko Ritter of Loxahatchee, FL, was four one-hundreths of a second from unseating McNerney from the top of the leaderboard by crossing the final timers on Aquiles Del Caribe Z, owned by Gladewinds Partners, LLC, in 31.768 seconds. Rounding out the all-American podium in a time of 32.244 seconds was Jonathan McCrea and Fantasy BB, owned by Windsor Show Stable.
“Sometimes when you’re first, you kind of have no choice but to lay it out,” said McNerney. “I really wanted to set down the pace and see what happened. The mare is amazing and wants to win as much as I do.”
Brava’s partnership with McNerney was one meant to be. “She’s incredible,” continued McNerney. “I tried her about two years ago and I didn’t get her at first because she wasn’t the ‘type’ of horse we were originally looking for. We knew that she was a great horse and I loved her the minute I sat on her.
“I came back from Europe with some other horses and decided that when another one of my horses retires, if she was still available, I would get her. Sure enough, two months later one of my horses retired, I called to see if Brava was still available and she was. It was meant to be.”
Heading into the jump-off, McNerney knew her mare could get the job done, she just had to let her do her thing. “I thought it was a really great track,” said McNerney. “Those two turns were where you could win the class. I told myself ‘don’t pull, don’t pull, just keep going, let it go.’ Overall, I thought it was really open, there were two lines that you had to complete and the rest was turning and going, which is how a jump off should be, which is awesome.”
After building a newer string of horses throughout the 2024 winter season, McNerney will continue to compete Brava, as well as her two stallions throughout the summer in Traverse City, in hopes of moving up over the weeks to come.
“This is why I came to Traverse, because it’s a great place to develop horses and move up,” said McNerney. “Classes like this are great, and I’m hoping to move Brava up into the two-star next week.”
Source: Press Release
Over courses designed by Bernardo Costa Cabral’s (POR), McNerney was quick and tidy in the irons of her 10-year-old Hanoverian mare (Balou Du Rouet x Graf Top). They set the early pace at 31.722 seconds, and barely held on throughout the six-horse jump-off.
Nikko Ritter of Loxahatchee, FL, was four one-hundreths of a second from unseating McNerney from the top of the leaderboard by crossing the final timers on Aquiles Del Caribe Z, owned by Gladewinds Partners, LLC, in 31.768 seconds. Rounding out the all-American podium in a time of 32.244 seconds was Jonathan McCrea and Fantasy BB, owned by Windsor Show Stable.
“Sometimes when you’re first, you kind of have no choice but to lay it out,” said McNerney. “I really wanted to set down the pace and see what happened. The mare is amazing and wants to win as much as I do.”
Brava’s partnership with McNerney was one meant to be. “She’s incredible,” continued McNerney. “I tried her about two years ago and I didn’t get her at first because she wasn’t the ‘type’ of horse we were originally looking for. We knew that she was a great horse and I loved her the minute I sat on her.
“I came back from Europe with some other horses and decided that when another one of my horses retires, if she was still available, I would get her. Sure enough, two months later one of my horses retired, I called to see if Brava was still available and she was. It was meant to be.”
Heading into the jump-off, McNerney knew her mare could get the job done, she just had to let her do her thing. “I thought it was a really great track,” said McNerney. “Those two turns were where you could win the class. I told myself ‘don’t pull, don’t pull, just keep going, let it go.’ Overall, I thought it was really open, there were two lines that you had to complete and the rest was turning and going, which is how a jump off should be, which is awesome.”
After building a newer string of horses throughout the 2024 winter season, McNerney will continue to compete Brava, as well as her two stallions throughout the summer in Traverse City, in hopes of moving up over the weeks to come.
“This is why I came to Traverse, because it’s a great place to develop horses and move up,” said McNerney. “Classes like this are great, and I’m hoping to move Brava up into the two-star next week.”
Source: Press Release