On Thursday, no fewer than 15 combinations qualified for the jump-off of the 1.55m Grand Prix qualifier. With just under a two-second lead, Mathijs van Asten raced to victory with his own 13-year-old mare, Cassina Dior (Diarado, breeder: Pip McCarroll).
"To be completely honest, winning was not part of the plan at all! It sounds a bit strange, but it was somewhat of a coincidence," Mathijs van Asten admitted afterward. "I took a fairly tight turn towards obstacle number three, my mare felt great, so I decided to push the pace a bit. I thought, it's a beautiful course, there's decent prize money—why not keep making tight turns and go a bit faster?"
With this strategy, Van Asten pushed Shawn Casady and the 13-year-old Cool Quarz (Quarz, breeder: Gunula Henningsen) into second place. Skylar Wireman completed the top three aboard the nine-year-old Barclino B (Constanzehof's Barcley, breeder: Hans Brinkop).
Just outside the podium, Erynn Ballard finished in fourth place with the 14-year-old KWPN gelding, Gakhir (Spartacus TN), ahead of the winners of the 1.45m opening class—Conor Swail and Theo 160 (Christian).
"To be completely honest, winning was not part of the plan at all! It sounds a bit strange, but it was somewhat of a coincidence," Mathijs van Asten admitted afterward. "I took a fairly tight turn towards obstacle number three, my mare felt great, so I decided to push the pace a bit. I thought, it's a beautiful course, there's decent prize money—why not keep making tight turns and go a bit faster?"
With this strategy, Van Asten pushed Shawn Casady and the 13-year-old Cool Quarz (Quarz, breeder: Gunula Henningsen) into second place. Skylar Wireman completed the top three aboard the nine-year-old Barclino B (Constanzehof's Barcley, breeder: Hans Brinkop).
Just outside the podium, Erynn Ballard finished in fourth place with the 14-year-old KWPN gelding, Gakhir (Spartacus TN), ahead of the winners of the 1.45m opening class—Conor Swail and Theo 160 (Christian).