Show jumping action came to a close on Sunday at Desert International Horse Park on the final day of Desert Holiday. FEI CSI2* athletes vied for the top prize in the FEI $72,900 HorseFlight Grand Prix CSI2* while national show jumpers took on the $3,000 Alu Jumps 1.35m Open Classic in the Grand Prix Arena. The course was set and decorated for a final time in 2021 and riders thoughtfully executed their plans to give their best shot at securing the final win of the calendar year at the venue. In the $3,000 Alu Jumps 1.35m Open Classic, it was Julia Nagler taking home the blue with Sanvano, while Karl Cook (USA) claimed the top spot in the FEI $72,900 HorseFlight Grand Prix CSI2* with Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet.
The course for the day, set by Alan Wade (IRL), had elements similar to that of the Grand Prix the night prior, including the triple combination, which had been reset to vertical-oxer-vertical with one stride in between each element, and the double combination across the diagonal, which was reversed. The CSI2* riders were presented with a 13-obstacle course with 16 jumping efforts total spanning the entire Grand Prix Arena and presented challenges at every turn. A total of 12 competitors navigated the first round clear and within the time allowed of 79 seconds to advance to the eight-obstacle jump-off. As 43rd in the order with Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet, owned by Signe Otsby, Cook had time to watch the course and observe where rails fell so he could secure a pole-position spot in the eight-obstacle jump-off.
The course for the day, set by Alan Wade (IRL), had elements similar to that of the Grand Prix the night prior, including the triple combination, which had been reset to vertical-oxer-vertical with one stride in between each element, and the double combination across the diagonal, which was reversed. The CSI2* riders were presented with a 13-obstacle course with 16 jumping efforts total spanning the entire Grand Prix Arena presented challenges at every turn. A total of 12 competitors navigated the first round clear and within the time allowed of 79 seconds to advance to the eight-obstacle jump-off.
As 43rd in the order with Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet, owned by Signe Otsby, Cook had time to watch the course and observe where rails fell so he could secure a pole-position spot in the jump-off.
Karrie Rufer (USA) was the first to take to the abbreviated track, bringing down one rail for a total of 4 faults in 44.34 seconds.Emma Marlowe (USA) and Cherokee, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Trelawny Farm, LLC, set the bar as the first double-clear effort of the afternoon, posting a time of 42.29 seconds. The lead wasn’t held for long, however, as Alec Lawler (USA) and his own For Gold, a 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding, sped through the timers in 40.84, upping the ante and putting pressure on the remaining nine competitors.
Cook has been moving Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet, who previously showed in Europe under Italy’s Lorenzo De Luca, into the higher level classes slowly and seeing promising results up to the four-star level. This was the 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare’s biggest win so far and it was on home soil for Southern California-based Cook.
source: Press Release