FEI Level 4 course designer Olaf Petersen Jr. (GER) built to challenge the talented field of 32 horse-and-rider combinations, including multiple combinations, wide oxers, and a hefty triple-bar fence across the first-round track. Petersen Jr.’s test did it’s job well, forcing contenders to master both scope and efficiency in order to make it to the short course. Out of the six nations represented in the opening round, athletes riding for only three nationalities advanced to the jump-off. The majority of the eight pairings that managed to leave all jumps up and cross the timers within the allotted time represented the United States, while Beat Mändli stood as Switzerland’s only representative, and Nassar cleared the course for Egypt. 

U.S. athlete McKayla Langmeier was the first in the short course order to successfully navigate the track fault-free and set the time to beat at 40.480 seconds. Her lead was short lived however, as Alex Matz (USA) stepped on the gas and edged her out of the top spot only one round later, taking almost two full seconds off of her time and stopping the clock in 38.760 seconds. Several challengers remained, but the rails continued to fall until Nassar was the last left to shoot his shot. As he has done many times, the Egyptian Olympian went full throttle, cleanly crossing the timers in 37.720 seconds and securing the win with Evergate Stables LLC’s 18-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Cooper van de Heffinck x Orlando). 

“Igor has a ton of natural footspeed,” shared Nassar. “I watched both McKayla [Langmeier] and Alex [Matz] go, and I thought I could beat them kind of just with pace. I did end up having an extra stride in the first two lines, but I was able to keep it super neat the rest of the way.

“Igor was just outstanding today, and I’m really happy for him to get a win like this,” continued Nassar. “For six years now, he’s been just an unbelievable partner to me. With his older age, we’ve been using him a little more sparingly, but he still gives me an amazing feeling, and I just wanted him to get a win because he’s been so close so many times in the past couple of years, and he finally put it all together today.”

Langmeier donned the yellow sash as she returned to the Douglas Elliman Grand Prix stadium and accepted third place for her efforts with Isidore de Chalusse, the Rafferty Farm LLC’s eight-year-old Selle Français gelding (Clarimo x Vigo D’Arsouilles STX). As the only other double-clear combination, Matz’s attempt with Clarimo, Dorothy and Michael Matz’s nine-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Comilfo Plus Z x Polydor), proved good enough for second place. 

While the afternoon Grand Prix was the pinnacle of FEI competition for the day, it was not the only international event on the day’s roster. Kicking off show jumping action, 15 pairings raced to the fastest finish in the $31,020 Go Rentals CSI3* Jumper Classic. While roughly half the entries advanced to the immediate jump-off, the victory landed in the hands of Sloane Coles (USA), who piloted Limoncello Z, a 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Grandorado TN N.O.P x Lincoln) owned by The Limoncello Z Group LLC, into the winning position in 39.71 seconds.

“I bought this horse as a seven-year-old, and it’s taken us a while to get here with our partnership, but I think the good ones do often take a while,” commented Coles. “Today, I wasn’t planning it, but we did a leave out to the one-stride combination in the jump-off, and he handled it super well. Once we had accomplished that, I figured I might as well stay on it, and it proved to be enough.”

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