Ten years ago, Ashlee Bond topped a $1,000,000 grand prix at what is now the Desert International Horse Park. In the decade since then, the show venue has undergone extensive changes, and the caliber of showjumping sport available at the horse park has increased exponentially. However, on Saturday, December 7, 2024, one thing remained the same as it was back in 2014: Bond’s name atop the leaderboard. This time, Bond piloted her veteran Olympic mount, Donatello 141, to a thrilling victory in the $1,000,000 MLSJ CSI5* Coachella Cup Grand Prix
The very first rider to return, Lucy Davis Kennedy, set the clear time to beat at a quick 41.33 seconds aboard Ben 431, but the next several riders continued to crank things up a notch. When Bond and Donatello 141 returned to the Grand Prix Stadium as the eighth to jump-off, the time to beat had been set at 40.91 seconds by Colombia’s Mark Bluman and Ubiluc (Ubiko).
Bluman’s lead was short lived however, as somehow across the nine-fence jump-off, Bond and Donatello 141 found a way to shave more than a second off of his time, stopping the clock in a winning 39.33 seconds.
Ultimately finishing in second place with a time of 40.48 seconds were Aaron Vale and Carissimo 25 (Cascadello I), owned by The Carissimo Group, and Bluman and Ubiluc, owned by Over the Top Stables LLC, finished in third. Fourth place went to the USA’S Laura Kraut aboard her 2024 Paris Olympics mount Balouttinue, and Kennedy finished in fifth.
“It’s super surreal,” said Bond immediately following her win. “It hasn’t hit me yet. I feel like big moments like this in your career, it never really sets in. It’s almost too big to kind of feel it. It’s just such a nice end to our year and a reward for my team and my horse. My little Donnie, he’s just such a fighter. He gives me so much every time, and I’m just super grateful.”
