Riding Marilyn Little LLC’s 10-year-old Mecklenburg mare, Little was 1.8 seconds faster than her fellow competitors in Thursday’s $65,000 Old Salem Farm 4* Welcome Stake. The pair stopped the clock on a double-clear score of 34.04 seconds. Fellow American and second-place finisher Adrienne Sternlicht tripped the timers in 35.85 seconds aboard Starlight Farms 1 LLC’s 9-year-old Zangersheide mare Corablue Z.

“We had some very fast horses and riders in that class – Nayel Nassar, Rodrigo Pessoa, the ones we’re always looking out for – but Adrienne was blazing,” Little said. “There were some great turns that presented us with opportunities, and my mare was really on the job today. We had some good, long runs that I was really able to take advantage of. She’s a smaller horse and super handy, so it was a super course for her. It was a lot of fun.

“I’ve had this mare for over a year now, so the relationship is growing steadily,” she continued. “I think I’ve been holding her back a bit to make sure I don’t go too fast with her too soon. I don’t want to over-face her, but she’s so careful and tries so hard. My goal this week was to really cut her loose and not be so protective. I made a mistake or two in the last few jump-offs that we’ve been in, but that’s the advantage of being in them – we get to practice. We had a great feeling out there today, and hopefully, we can do it again on Saturday.” 

Rounding out the podium in third place was Vanessa Hood (ISR), who posted a 36.12-second score with FBW Graphik, a 12-year-old German Sport Horse mare owned by Take Two LLC.