If any combination managed to impress at the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen last Sunday, it was the Baltic VDL son Ilex under American McLain Ward. Where everyone expected him to take his experienced Callas to the Games, McLain Ward chose Ilex, bred by Gijs Maris of Berg en Dal. “Ilex is like a teenager getting an adult body and not yet realizing how strong he is,” Ward describes the 11-year-old, big-framed gelding.
Since January this year, McLain Ward has been in the saddle of Ilex (out of Calendula ster IBOP-spr PROK by Chin Chin), so not a long preparation for the Games. “It's quite a story before I got the chance to be able to buy Ilex,” laughs the American. “About a year and a half ago, a Spanish friend tipped me off that he had seen Ilex. But the horse was not for sale. After a while, the owner gave me the chance to sit in Ilex's saddle for a while, so I took that opportunity. We then spent about three to four months trying to get the deal done, but it didn't work out in the end. Until I, along with my wife, had the opportunity to partially buy in with the promise that we really wanted him for the big sport.” And so it happened.
From regional champion to Olympics
As a six-year-old, Bonne Chance Farm bought Ilex from the VDL Stud. Co-owner Marcel de Boer trained and trained him as a young horse, after Ilex learned the principles of his jumping career with Don Sas. VDL Stud rider Alex Chitty won the regional championship in the 1.20m as a six-year-old with Ilex and now the Olympics await. In addition to McLain Ward and his wife, Bonne Chance Farm is still co-owner. Brazil's Alexandre Gadelha jumped the first international courses with Ilex, Canada's Bruno Martins
Costa took a seat in the saddle for a very short time. Starting at 1.35m, Brazilian Fabio Leivas da Costa took the reins and steamed Ilex ready for his first 1.60m courses before McLain Ward led him to his first Olympics.
No padding, but competing for medals
“It's a very short timeline to the Olympics. We made a plan for him with the whole team and everyone stuck to it, but most of all Ilex,” McLain Ward echoes in praise. “I wanted to give myself every chance for the Olympics, and not bet on one horse. So in addition to Callas, I really wanted to prepare Ilex for the possibility of competing in the Games.
In addition, I don't want to just qualify myself or ride as filler on the start list, but really compete for the medals. In the end, the American selection committee preferred Ilex, he has performed fantastically over the past few months, is super fit and has the age.” The Casall daughter Callas has more experience, but is now 16 years old. Although the latter need not be a disadvantage. It only shows how much confidence there is in the Ilex-McLain Ward combination.
“It's a beast.”
“It's a beast,” McLain Ward laughs when asked how he would describe Ilex. “He's such an incredibly good horse, really a very strong athlete. He often does too much, so the trick is to guide and slow him down in that. He has a fantastic attitude and gives everything every time.” Despite not being a combination for long, McLain Ward is clear about his ambitions. “We are going to the Games with the goal of winning. If you look at the track record of our Nations Cup results that may not sound credible. But we really have a very strong team. Laura Kraut and Baloutinue are experienced, Kent Farrington is taking Greya, really a very good, still young, horse that is in very good shape and the same I can say about Ilex. So because we have some younger horses, we've had some ups-and-downs in the results because we've tried a few things. But the most important thing is to have the right horses ready at the right time.” And that seems to be the case with Ward and Ilex's recent second-place finish in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen and Kent Farrington and Greya's victory in the Rolex Grand Prix of La Baule.
Great career ahead for Ilex
“In Tokyo we also performed fantastic as a team,” McLain Ward referred to his silver Olympic team medal. “The Nations Cups are no indication, I believe Switzerland is the strongest team at the moment, but they were even behind us in Aachen. So that really says nothing.” In addition to the Tokyo silver team medal, McLain Ward won two gold Olympic team medals (Athens and Hong Kong) and another silver team medal (Rio de Janeiro). With horses such as HH Azur, Clinta, Contagious, McLain Ward has had fantastic horses under him. Does Ilex fit into this list? “It's hard to compare these horses, they are all extremely good horses and different. But I am sure Ilex has a similar career ahead of him. In addition, as a rider, I'm better again than I was then, that's the beauty of equestrian sports. I know more, have learned more, so if I had the horses from then under the saddle now, I would be able to perform even better with them. So Ilex definitely has that advantage”, beautiful, promising words from this top horse man.
Two Baltic VDL offspring
Ilex is not the only Baltic VDL offspring to make his appearance at the Olympics. The silver medalist of the European Championships in Riesenbeck (2021), Leone Jei, will also make his first Olympics appearance under Swiss rider Martin Fuch. In the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen, these two gentlemen showed they are not much inferior to each other. Where Ilex finished second, Leone Jei was faster but unfortunately ran into a jumping fault which eventually earned him fourth place. Did McLain Ward know that these horses share the same sire? “Yes, I am definitely aware of that. Both horses have unprecedented scope, a big canter, power and a lot of blood. They also have similar front-end technique. In contrast, Ilex is taller, with a bit more body and Leone Jei again has more of a thoroughbred's build. Both horses have a lot of quality,” McLain Ward claimed.
Adjustments worked out well
American McLain Ward has been in Europe with Ilex since June. In La Baule, France, the gelding jumped around with four penalties over two rounds, then Aachen was on the program. “The focus was really on Aachen in preparation for the Games. I wasn't completely satisfied after the Nations Cup, there were a few things I felt needed to be changed. So I adjusted his bridle on a few points just like the training. And that really worked out fantastic. Normally I would have done it differently, but that brings a short time frame and now I am very happy that I did this. The feeling towards Paris is even better now,” McLain Ward concluded.
Since January this year, McLain Ward has been in the saddle of Ilex (out of Calendula ster IBOP-spr PROK by Chin Chin), so not a long preparation for the Games. “It's quite a story before I got the chance to be able to buy Ilex,” laughs the American. “About a year and a half ago, a Spanish friend tipped me off that he had seen Ilex. But the horse was not for sale. After a while, the owner gave me the chance to sit in Ilex's saddle for a while, so I took that opportunity. We then spent about three to four months trying to get the deal done, but it didn't work out in the end. Until I, along with my wife, had the opportunity to partially buy in with the promise that we really wanted him for the big sport.” And so it happened.
From regional champion to Olympics
As a six-year-old, Bonne Chance Farm bought Ilex from the VDL Stud. Co-owner Marcel de Boer trained and trained him as a young horse, after Ilex learned the principles of his jumping career with Don Sas. VDL Stud rider Alex Chitty won the regional championship in the 1.20m as a six-year-old with Ilex and now the Olympics await. In addition to McLain Ward and his wife, Bonne Chance Farm is still co-owner. Brazil's Alexandre Gadelha jumped the first international courses with Ilex, Canada's Bruno Martins
Costa took a seat in the saddle for a very short time. Starting at 1.35m, Brazilian Fabio Leivas da Costa took the reins and steamed Ilex ready for his first 1.60m courses before McLain Ward led him to his first Olympics.
No padding, but competing for medals
“It's a very short timeline to the Olympics. We made a plan for him with the whole team and everyone stuck to it, but most of all Ilex,” McLain Ward echoes in praise. “I wanted to give myself every chance for the Olympics, and not bet on one horse. So in addition to Callas, I really wanted to prepare Ilex for the possibility of competing in the Games.
In addition, I don't want to just qualify myself or ride as filler on the start list, but really compete for the medals. In the end, the American selection committee preferred Ilex, he has performed fantastically over the past few months, is super fit and has the age.” The Casall daughter Callas has more experience, but is now 16 years old. Although the latter need not be a disadvantage. It only shows how much confidence there is in the Ilex-McLain Ward combination.
“It's a beast.”
“It's a beast,” McLain Ward laughs when asked how he would describe Ilex. “He's such an incredibly good horse, really a very strong athlete. He often does too much, so the trick is to guide and slow him down in that. He has a fantastic attitude and gives everything every time.” Despite not being a combination for long, McLain Ward is clear about his ambitions. “We are going to the Games with the goal of winning. If you look at the track record of our Nations Cup results that may not sound credible. But we really have a very strong team. Laura Kraut and Baloutinue are experienced, Kent Farrington is taking Greya, really a very good, still young, horse that is in very good shape and the same I can say about Ilex. So because we have some younger horses, we've had some ups-and-downs in the results because we've tried a few things. But the most important thing is to have the right horses ready at the right time.” And that seems to be the case with Ward and Ilex's recent second-place finish in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen and Kent Farrington and Greya's victory in the Rolex Grand Prix of La Baule.
Great career ahead for Ilex
“In Tokyo we also performed fantastic as a team,” McLain Ward referred to his silver Olympic team medal. “The Nations Cups are no indication, I believe Switzerland is the strongest team at the moment, but they were even behind us in Aachen. So that really says nothing.” In addition to the Tokyo silver team medal, McLain Ward won two gold Olympic team medals (Athens and Hong Kong) and another silver team medal (Rio de Janeiro). With horses such as HH Azur, Clinta, Contagious, McLain Ward has had fantastic horses under him. Does Ilex fit into this list? “It's hard to compare these horses, they are all extremely good horses and different. But I am sure Ilex has a similar career ahead of him. In addition, as a rider, I'm better again than I was then, that's the beauty of equestrian sports. I know more, have learned more, so if I had the horses from then under the saddle now, I would be able to perform even better with them. So Ilex definitely has that advantage”, beautiful, promising words from this top horse man.
Two Baltic VDL offspring
Ilex is not the only Baltic VDL offspring to make his appearance at the Olympics. The silver medalist of the European Championships in Riesenbeck (2021), Leone Jei, will also make his first Olympics appearance under Swiss rider Martin Fuch. In the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen, these two gentlemen showed they are not much inferior to each other. Where Ilex finished second, Leone Jei was faster but unfortunately ran into a jumping fault which eventually earned him fourth place. Did McLain Ward know that these horses share the same sire? “Yes, I am definitely aware of that. Both horses have unprecedented scope, a big canter, power and a lot of blood. They also have similar front-end technique. In contrast, Ilex is taller, with a bit more body and Leone Jei again has more of a thoroughbred's build. Both horses have a lot of quality,” McLain Ward claimed.
Adjustments worked out well
American McLain Ward has been in Europe with Ilex since June. In La Baule, France, the gelding jumped around with four penalties over two rounds, then Aachen was on the program. “The focus was really on Aachen in preparation for the Games. I wasn't completely satisfied after the Nations Cup, there were a few things I felt needed to be changed. So I adjusted his bridle on a few points just like the training. And that really worked out fantastic. Normally I would have done it differently, but that brings a short time frame and now I am very happy that I did this. The feeling towards Paris is even better now,” McLain Ward concluded.