In an exciting finish in the $34,000 Suncast® 1.45m FEI Welcome at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC), Darragh Kerins (IRL) and Thunder D'Amaury stole the show, finishing with a double-clean effort to take the class with a time of 45.227 seconds. Kimberly Prince (USA) and RMF Bella Baloubet collected another second-place finish, stopping the timers just short of Kerins in 45.336 seconds. Candice King (USA) and Valinski S also made a strong run toward the top of the leaderboard, but finished in 45.543 seconds for third. Competition at TIEC continues with the Tryon Summer Series through Sunday, July 19. Kerins and the 2007 Selle Francais gelding (Quidam De Revel x Fille D Espoir) mastered the track set by Manuel Esparza (MEX), completing one of five double-clear rounds of the morning. The gelding has recently stepped up to the FEI level with Kerins in the irons. "This feels great. It was a quite technical course and after I watched the first few runs through the track, the time allowed was very tight," said Kerins. "I thought it might be an issue for us because he is so green, but I've been here for three weeks and he's only progressed. He felt very confident in the ring today." The duo laid down a near perfect round in their first effort around the course, which pushed them into the jump-off portion of the class. Going late in the order, Kerins secured the win as the second-to-last horse on course.
