The 2023 Traverse City Horse Shows leading rider, Driscoll is no stranger to wins in Northern Michigan. “This has been a great summer for me,” she said after yet another victory. “Arome has been such a reliable partner for me. We are definitely going to be back and plan to compete in the FEI World Cup™ qualifier here during the second week of the Tournament of Champions to hopefully qualify for FEI World Cup™ Finals. That’s the goal.”

A field of 40 athletes put their best foot forward across Manuel Esparza’s (MEX) one-round track. With just over a half a dozen countries represented in the starting field, the challenge was set high and roughly half the class incurred round-ending faults in the opening power phase. For Driscoll—a former eventing rider—and her trusted partner Arome, however, a good gallop and tight turns are just another day at the office.

“Walking the course today, I thought maybe it wasn’t the best class for my horse,” she explained. “There weren’t a lot of options and the numbers were not adjustable. So, I knew the only place I could really make up [time] would be in the turns. After the double combination, I was able to look through the jumps and nail the oxer out of the rollback turn, but coming back on it I knew it was going to be tight.” 

The forward rollback turn in question was one that presented a challenge for a handful of entries in the class. 

“I have so much experience with him that in places like that I can really take a shot,” Driscoll commented of the 14-year-old Selle Français gelding (Norway de la Lande x Attila III), owned by Plain Bay Farms. “I’m also very comfortable in the gallop.”

Driscoll’s winning time over the speed portion of the course was posted at 35.41 seconds, which overtook that of west-coast based Skylar Wireman (USA), who piloted her second mount of the day to a time of 36.64 seconds to fall just over a single second behind the winning pace. She rode Barclino B, an eight-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Constanzenhof’s Barcley x Lasino), owned by Shayne Wireman. 

Great Britain’s Amanda Derbyshire was the original leader of the day and put forward a time of 36.83 seconds to finish third riding Zadora, an 11-year-old KWPN mare (Zavall VDL x Padinus), owned by Sharjah Equestrian & Racing Club. 

Looking to retain her leading rider title, Driscoll currently sits atop the 2024 standings, just two points ahead of fellow U.S. rider and GLEF grand prix winner, Molly Ashe Cawley. Three weeks remain in the race for $30,000 in leading rider bonus money, which will be presented during the final week of the Traverse City Horse Shows season during the coveted American Gold Cup. 

Three-star action continues during the final week of GLEF as the $32,000 Alltech CSI3* Welcome Stake takes up the spotlight in the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring on Friday.