The luck of the Irish was on Mark Kinsella’s side Thursday when he and Bogano topped the $32,000 CSI3* Speed by more than a full second during the Traverse City Spring Series at Flintfields Horse Park.
Kinsella started his partnership with Bogano in December and spent the winter getting to know the 11-year-old Italian-bred gelding (Ogano Sitte x Voltaire Pref). This week marks their third international outing together, and the pieces all fell into place for their first victory.
Ten horses jumped clear over Anderson Lima’s (BRA) one-round speed track. Kinsella topped the field, stopping the clock at 65.68 seconds, just ahead of Richard Spooner (USA) and Serenity Spring Farm’s Belle Esprit (Cicero Z van Paemel x Baloubet du Rouet) in 67.04 seconds—the same pair that won Sunday’s Traverse City National Grand Prix. Lacey Gilbertson (USA) and Karlin van’t Vennehof (Fantomas de Muze x Quasimodo van de Molendreef), owned by Seabrook, LLC, took third in 68.22 seconds.
“Now we’ve been here for three weeks, he’s really gotten used to the place and I think horses thrive in this ring,” said Kinsella of his time spent at Traverse City Horse Shows. “He was second in a ranking class last week, so to get the win today is just icing on the cake.”
Bogano is the former ride of fellow Irishman Jeremy Sweetnam, who campaigned the mount in Europe. “[Bogano] has great technique and he’s naturally a very fast horse and that’s the ride that he likes,” said Kinsella of what caught his eye about the mount. “Regardless of the format—speed, jump-off—he can do it all. He’s a phenomenal horse and he thrives on being a competitor.”
Kinsella and Bogano will now contest the $117,000 Molon Excavation CSI3* Grand Prix on Sunday before he and his wife Sophie soon return to their home base in California to prepare for the arrival of their second child. “We are hoping for a really good finish to our trip to Traverse City,” he concluded.
