Ashlee Bond Clarke admits that she had to keep her nerves and her emotions in check when entering the ring for the jump-off of Sunday’s AIG $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by Lamborghini Newport Beach, at HITS Thermal. She was, however, a picture of poise and control to the crowd of 4,000 spectators that looked on as she topped a star-studded field to win the historic event with Little Valley Farms’ Chela LS. “It still hasn’t sunk in,” she said. “This was the biggest track I have ridden on this mare, but she comes out every day wanting to win. It’s been all about finding that partnership for us and I think we have found it.” This weekend saw multiple top international competitions take place through out the globe, with top events taking place in Wellington -Florida Paris-France, Doha -Qatar and of course Thermal-California. Ashlee may have woken up this morning focused at the task at hand but one can almost be sure she wouldn’t have predicted earning the biggest pay out this weekend with $350,000 USD, outdoing Ludger Beerbaum and his pay out of 214,500 EUR for winning the CSI5* AL SHAQAB Grand Prix of Doha. Ashlee purchased the coming-10 chestnut mare from Simon Nizri in July and won the first grand prix of the season at HITS Thermal seven weeks ago. From there, Bond Clarke has seen the highs and lows with her scopey, yet opinionated mount. “She was really strong during the first World Cup week here and it took some time for us to figure it out and get the bridle right. We have been in the ribbons consistently since then,” said Bond Clarke. Sunday’s order was a ‘who’s who’ of international show jumping with horse and rider accolades littering the list. The original order consisted of 39 riders who showed over a course designed by Marina Azevedo of Sao Paolo, Brazil. Fourteen obstacles and 17 jumping efforts made up the track, which boasted tall verticals, wide oxers and a formidable triple combination. The course was really well-built,” said Bond Clarke of Azevedo’s work. “It was big, technical and scopey, but not unfair. There were faults everywhere and that’s the mark of a great course.” A crowd favorite and East Coast challenger, Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, New York clipped the ribbon on clear rounds and jumped Coral Reef Via Volo perfectly for owner Coral Reef Ranch. One trip later, fellow East Coast contender Todd Minikus piloted Quality Group’s Quality Girl to secure a jump-off. Six more followed their lead and set the stage for an eight-horse jump-off.
Madden and Minikus both had a rail at the second-to-last fence of the shortened course – a tall vertical. East Coast hopes were not forsaken, however, as Kirsten Coe of Royal Palm Beach, Florida clocked a clear round in 46.86 seconds with Baronez, owned by Ilan Ferder, Lovsta Stuteri and Tal Milstein. “This course really suited my horse and my plan from the very beginning was to get a double clear and not try to ride faster than the speedsters behind me,” said Coe. “I just wanted to put some pressure and I did that – my horse performed great.”
AIG $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by Lamborghini Newport Beach
1 Chela LS Little Valley Farm Ashlee Bond Clarke $350,000 0 0 41.16 2 Lordan Nayel Nassar Nayel Nassar $200,000 0 0 45.38 3 Baronez Ilan Ferder/Lovsta Stuteri/Tal Milstein Kirsten Coe $120,000 0 0 46.86 4 Coral Reef Via Volo Coral Reef Ranch Beezie Madden $100,000 0 4 43.22 5 Quality Girl Quality Group Todd Minikus $75,000 0 4 44.62 6 Status Pessoa Stables, LLC Rodrigo Pessoa $40,000 0 4 44.67 7 Flexible Harry & Mollie Chapman Rich Fellers $30,000 0 8 41.90 8 Cristallo Show Jumping Syndications, Int’l Richard Spooner $20,000 0 8 43.75 9 Chill RZ Maura Thatcher/Alex Jayne Charlie Jayne $15,000 2 - - 10 Clintord Cross Creek Farms, Inc. Michelle Parker $10,000 3 - - 11 Willow Amalaya Investments Kent Farrington $7,500 4 - - 12 Cesar Bridgeside Farms, LLC Bliss Heers $4,500 4 - - 13 Quintol Mercedes Benz Santiago Hank Eduardo Menezes $3,500 4 - - 14 Quilebo Du Tillard Enrique Gonzalez Enrique Gonzalez $3,500 4 - - 15 Jonkheer Z Signe Ostby Karl Cook $3,500 4 - - 16 Chianto Forest View Farm & Allison Moore John Pearce $3,500 4 - - 17 Kismet 50 Bellissimo, LLC Candice King $3,500 5 - - 18 Terrific Rocky Mountain Show Jumping John Anderson $3,500 6 - - 19 Contanga 3 Andre Thieme Andre Thieme $3,500 8 - - 20 Taunus Francie Steinwedell-Carvin Francie Steinwedell-Carvin $3,500 8 - - Source: HITS
Ashlee Bond Clarke admits that she had to keep her nerves and her emotions in check when entering the ring for the jump-off of Sunday’s AIG $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by Lamborghini Newport Beach, at HITS Thermal. She was, however, a picture of poise and control to the crowd of 4,000 spectators that looked on as she topped a star-studded field to win the historic event with Little Valley Farms’ Chela LS. “It still hasn’t sunk in,” she said. “This was the biggest track I have ridden on this mare, but she comes out every day wanting to win. It’s been all about finding that partnership for us and I think we have found it.” This weekend saw multiple top international competitions take place through out the globe, with top events taking place in Wellington -Florida Paris-France, Doha -Qatar and of course Thermal-California. Ashlee may have woken up this morning focused at the task at hand but one can almost be sure she wouldn’t have predicted earning the biggest pay out this weekend with $350,000 USD, outdoing Ludger Beerbaum and his pay out of 214,500 EUR for winning the CSI5* AL SHAQAB Grand Prix of Doha. Ashlee purchased the coming-10 chestnut mare from Simon Nizri in July and won the first grand prix of the season at HITS Thermal seven weeks ago. From there, Bond Clarke has seen the highs and lows with her scopey, yet opinionated mount. “She was really strong during the first World Cup week here and it took some time for us to figure it out and get the bridle right. We have been in the ribbons consistently since then,” said Bond Clarke. Sunday’s order was a ‘who’s who’ of international show jumping with horse and rider accolades littering the list. The original order consisted of 39 riders who showed over a course designed by Marina Azevedo of Sao Paolo, Brazil. Fourteen obstacles and 17 jumping efforts made up the track, which boasted tall verticals, wide oxers and a formidable triple combination. The course was really well-built,” said Bond Clarke of Azevedo’s work. “It was big, technical and scopey, but not unfair. There were faults everywhere and that’s the mark of a great course.” A crowd favorite and East Coast challenger, Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, New York clipped the ribbon on clear rounds and jumped Coral Reef Via Volo perfectly for owner Coral Reef Ranch. One trip later, fellow East Coast contender Todd Minikus piloted Quality Group’s Quality Girl to secure a jump-off. Six more followed their lead and set the stage for an eight-horse jump-off.
Madden and Minikus both had a rail at the second-to-last fence of the shortened course – a tall vertical. East Coast hopes were not forsaken, however, as Kirsten Coe of Royal Palm Beach, Florida clocked a clear round in 46.86 seconds with Baronez, owned by Ilan Ferder, Lovsta Stuteri and Tal Milstein. “This course really suited my horse and my plan from the very beginning was to get a double clear and not try to ride faster than the speedsters behind me,” said Coe. “I just wanted to put some pressure and I did that – my horse performed great.”