A field of 38 of those riders took on Thursday’s qualifying track, designed by Alan Wade, and nine of them ultimately advanced to the jump-off. 

As the fourth pair to return for the short course, Ward and First Lady, owned by Robin Cleary Parsky, set the clear time to beat at 36.01 seconds. While Keri Potter and the notoriously quick Kalimera van de Nethe Z went on to have the best time in 34.89 seconds, a rail down relegated them to fourth place. Sliding into second place with a time of 36.95 seconds was the 12th-ranked rider in the world, Nina Mallevaey of France aboard Dynastie de Beaufour (Diamant De Semilly x Cassini i) , owned by The Rein Family LLC. With a time of 41.59 seconds, third place went to Ireland’s Conor Swail and Clonterm Obolensky (Cornet Obolensky x Lux z , owned by Ollie Clancy.

“I was lucky to get to watch a few,” said Ward, who is currently ranked 11th in the world. “[First Lady]’s quick, not quite as fast as Keri [Potter]’s mare, but it played out in our favor today. First Lady was out for a little while this summer with an injury, but she has come back really strong and been phenomenally consistent. She won the qualifier at [the Washington International Horse Show]. The biggest shows, those are the competitions that we’ve been aiming for, and she’s just delivering week after week.”

“It’s obviously a great class, a great competition because it’s great prize money here,” said Ward. “We are all very thrilled to be out here competing on the West Coast. It’s been phenomenal efforts by all of the organizers of these tournaments. This is a great tour, and you see the level of competition and riders showing that appreciation.”

Outside the stage, Keri Potter finished in a fourth position aboard her Kalimera Van de Nethe Z (Kasanova de la Pomme). Potter and her Belgian bred mare finished with one fault in 34.89 seconds, leaving Belgium's Nicola Philippaerts and Gadget Mouche (Andiamo Semilly) in a fifth place!

Full Result