The highlight jumper class of National Sunshine Series 1, attracted a field of 38 entries to the Grand Prix Stadium to take on the Guilherme Jorge-designed course. At the end of the opening round, that course had narrowed the field down to 12 to return for the jump-off.

King and “Replay” were the ninth of those entries to take on the short course, so King had a good sense of what he needed to do to topple the previously leading time of 37.847 seconds, set by Amanda Gomez and Guibet P.

“I counted strides; I watched from the jumbotron, which is a mistake because it looks a lot slower out there, but I did count [Amanda’s] strides,” said King. “That horse, Replay, he wants to win more than I do. He's just a winner. He's half Thoroughbred horse, and he can really move. He really likes to run and jump. It was a great jump-off for us, wide open…I must have just been barely ahead.”

“I'm just super proud of that horse,” said King of the 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, owned by the Chess Group. “He knows how to win. This is probably his fifth kind of big win this season. All of a sudden, he just clicked, and he's been winning some big ones when it counts and making good prize money and stepping up the ranks. So, I'm just happy to have him. He's a trier.” 

Second place behind King went to Amanda Gomez and Guibet P (Guidam sohn x Landos), owned by Ferme Tandem. In addition to taking home the overall second-place honor, Gomez was also presented as the winner of both the $5,000 U25 overlay. Rounding out the top three were Cassio Rivetti and Chalina’s Clou PS (Chac Boy x Carthago).