The USA’s Molly Ashe Cawley earned her second grand prix win in as many weeks in Sunday’s $120,000 CSI3* Grand Prix. The win closed out the third week of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (GLEF), presented by B&D Builders, at Flintfields Horse Park, marking the halfway point of the six-week series. Cawley and Berdien went two-for-two after winning the B&D Builders Grand Prix during GLEF II.
With less than a second separating the top-three finishers, Cawley laid down an uncatchable time over Andy Christiansen’s (ECU) jump-off course in 36.01 seconds.
“I know she’s going to give it her whole heart every time,” gushed Cawley about Berdien, a 13-year-old Zangersheide mare (Bustique x Querlybet Hero) owned by Louisburg Farm. “You walk in the ring on her and feel like you have a chance to win and that’s a nice feeling. We know each other so well; she knows when it’s the jump-off and I know I can trust her to turn back sideways, backwards, parallel and all of the above—she’ll give it a go.
“She was super [in the jump-off],” continued Cawley. “She’s an amazing turner. I knew they could beat me but I was hoping they wouldn’t.
Spain’s Francisco Goyoaga Mollet was two tenths of a second off the win as the last to return in the tie-breaking jump-off. His time of 36.24 seconds riding PST de Muze secured him and the nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Vigo d’Arsouilles STX x Clinton) the runner-up ribbon for owner Sigma Stables.
Cathleen Driscoll (USA) rounded out the podium riding Idalgo, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Catoki x Quidam de Revel) owned by Don Stewart. Another top finish kept Driscoll at the top of the Traverse City Horse Shows Jumper Rider Bonus standings, with Cawley hot on her heels in seconds. The $30,000 bonus will be presented during the final week of the Tournament of Champions in the fall.
Along with the win, Cawley accepted the Turnham Green Leading Lady Rider Award. The honor will be awarded each week throughout GLEF to the female rider who posts the best cumulative results in international classes throughout the week.
“It’s so nice to have [Traverse City Horse Shows] because we used to not have hardly any FEI shows,” concluded Cawley about the now 12-week international circuit. “This show in particular is really good for the horses, and right now I have a lot of young ones coming up. We are here for these two weeks and then we’ll come back in the fall. It’s the best option available by far and we love being here.“
For complete results, click here.