Eugenio Garza, one of Mexico's up-and-coming stars, and his mount Victer Finn Dh Z, owned by Axel Verlooy Euro Horse Bvba, won the $40,000 CSI 3* Amalaya Investments 1.50m Welcome Prix at the Spilt Rock Jumping Tour's Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Columbus CSI 3*-W, the second week of the Tour's run at the Brave Horse Show Park in Johnstown, Ohio. Alan Wade, international course designer from Ireland, who designed the tracks for the recent FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, NC, put together a course with 16 jumping efforts in a time allowed of 79 seconds. Only ten of the 58 horse-and-rider combinations managed to complete the course without penalty with Garza and the 10-year-old gelding among the first to do so. Garza was joined on the good list by some of the sport's greats, including Beezie Madden and Breitling LS, the current Longines FEI World Cup champions, who ended up placing second to Garza, and Christine McCrea, the 2011 Pan American Games double Gold Medalist, with Jacobond van den Oude Eik, finishing in third place. All of the jump off times were close, with barely a second separating them. Garza completed the shortened track in 40.24 seconds. Madden turned in a time of 41.28 seconds and Mc Crea crossed through the timers in 41.98 seconds. "I knew there were fast riders coming right behind me," said Garza. "Victer is a naturally fast horse and my trainer, Eddie Macken, told me to ride a fast, efficient round. I just rode to the plan and it all worked out and my time held up till the end, so I am really happy." Four-time U.S. Olympic veteran Madden rode Abigail Wexner's Jiva to the blue ribbon in the $4,000 Walsh 1.40m Winning Round competition where the top ten competitors from the first round advance to the jump-off. Madden and the 9-year-old, bay, Belgian mare crossed through the timers fault-free in 28.888 seconds for the win. "I have to thank the Wexners who have supported me for over 20 years now," said Madden. "We got this mare about a year and a half ago. She was a little behind for a seven-year-old, but she is catching up now. She has some nice experience at a lot of places. She is careful and fast, so she is good at winning these types of classes. We have been trying to step her up, but you have to be a little careful how fast you move her up in the heights. She did some big classes this summer in Europe, but we try to balance out the bigger classes with some a little bit smaller. "We heard such good things about the Split Rock shows that we wanted to come. We tried to come last year but it just didn't fit into the schedule, but this year it worked out perfectly. It is nice that this is so close the Wexners that they have a chance to actually see their horses go."
