Olaf Petersen, Jr (GER) set the power-and-speed track for 78 starting competitors, representing 19 nations. Going clear proved to be quite possible today, with 39 riders finding their way fault free. Doing so quickly, however, proved to be a challenge answered best by Russekoff and Balou’s Fly High, who soared through the short course in 31.66 seconds.
“In the ring, he likes to take me to all the jumps, so I was confident that given this course, we would be able to leave out strides where maybe others could not,” explained Russekoff of the 15-year-old Oldenburg stallion by Balou du Rouet x Grandeur. “For example, the last line was a normal five-stride line, but I know with him and how much he loves to go for it at the end of the course, I could choose to do four.”
Though his talent and professionalism in the ring are obvious, Balou’s Fly High has an interesting character in the barn, and being a stallion, he can be challenging to handle. Because he’s such a superstar, Russekoff and her team have learned to work around his quirks.
“He has a huge personality. He gets really emotional, so we have to keep him really separated from everyone else,” laughed Russekoff. “When he’s having a good day, it’s a little easier, but when he’s having a bad day, we just kind of let him be and try to be really nice to him.”
Conor Swail (IRL) and Team Philippaerts’s Theo 160 raced to a second-place finish in 32.26 seconds. Just three one-hundredths of a second behind them was Richard Vogel (GER) and Dakota de L’Ardrais, owned by Coleridge Equestrian BV.
The day started with the $6,000 Beerbaum Stables CSI2* 1.40m two-phase class, where young talent Zayna Rizvi (USA) topped the leaderboard of 79 entries with Peacock Ridge LLC’s Excellent (Cicero Z van Paemel x Ahorn). Rizvi and the 13-year-old KWPN gelding crossed the timers in 28.69 seconds, almost a full second faster than second-place finisher Hailey Royce (USA) with Double Clear LLC’s Sonic Boom, who finished in 29.54 seconds. Close behind was Victoria Heurtematte (PAN) to round out the top three aboard her own Flying Dutchman in 30.19 seconds.
In the $1,000 Bainbridge Companies 1.40m CSI4*, the United States were on top again, as Spencer Smith ran away with the win on Purple Road LLC’s Copernicus in 36.38 seconds. Smith and the nine-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding by Camaro M x Cortus just edged out Germany’s Richard Vogel and Caramba 92, owned by Horse Management GMBH, who stopped the clock in 36.65 seconds for second place. Third place went to fellow U.S. rider Brian Moggre with Ann C Thompson’s I’m Special V, who finished in 42.66 seconds.
source: Press Release
“In the ring, he likes to take me to all the jumps, so I was confident that given this course, we would be able to leave out strides where maybe others could not,” explained Russekoff of the 15-year-old Oldenburg stallion by Balou du Rouet x Grandeur. “For example, the last line was a normal five-stride line, but I know with him and how much he loves to go for it at the end of the course, I could choose to do four.”
Though his talent and professionalism in the ring are obvious, Balou’s Fly High has an interesting character in the barn, and being a stallion, he can be challenging to handle. Because he’s such a superstar, Russekoff and her team have learned to work around his quirks.
“He has a huge personality. He gets really emotional, so we have to keep him really separated from everyone else,” laughed Russekoff. “When he’s having a good day, it’s a little easier, but when he’s having a bad day, we just kind of let him be and try to be really nice to him.”
Conor Swail (IRL) and Team Philippaerts’s Theo 160 raced to a second-place finish in 32.26 seconds. Just three one-hundredths of a second behind them was Richard Vogel (GER) and Dakota de L’Ardrais, owned by Coleridge Equestrian BV.
The day started with the $6,000 Beerbaum Stables CSI2* 1.40m two-phase class, where young talent Zayna Rizvi (USA) topped the leaderboard of 79 entries with Peacock Ridge LLC’s Excellent (Cicero Z van Paemel x Ahorn). Rizvi and the 13-year-old KWPN gelding crossed the timers in 28.69 seconds, almost a full second faster than second-place finisher Hailey Royce (USA) with Double Clear LLC’s Sonic Boom, who finished in 29.54 seconds. Close behind was Victoria Heurtematte (PAN) to round out the top three aboard her own Flying Dutchman in 30.19 seconds.
In the $1,000 Bainbridge Companies 1.40m CSI4*, the United States were on top again, as Spencer Smith ran away with the win on Purple Road LLC’s Copernicus in 36.38 seconds. Smith and the nine-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding by Camaro M x Cortus just edged out Germany’s Richard Vogel and Caramba 92, owned by Horse Management GMBH, who stopped the clock in 36.65 seconds for second place. Third place went to fellow U.S. rider Brian Moggre with Ann C Thompson’s I’m Special V, who finished in 42.66 seconds.
source: Press Release