Course designer Nick Granat (USA) kicked off the FEI 5* division at the 49th annual Hampton Classic with a winding 15-effort track set at 1.45m in Thursday’s $32,000 FEI 5* Two-Phase, where many of the top placings were separated by just hundredths of a second. Fellow American Kristen Vanderveen raced to the win with a double-clear score of 30.39 seconds aboard Bull Run’s Hesed.
The $32,000 FEI 5* Two-Phase featured 77 entries representing 11 countries in the Grand Prix Arena on Thursday. Colombia’s Mark Bluman and his mount Ubiluc (Ubiko x Lucian) were just third to enter the ring, setting the time to beat at 30.86 seconds. The pair seemed nearly uncatchable until Vanderveen and Bull Run Jumpers Inc.’s 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding flew over the course without fault in the last third of the order, taking over the top of the leaderboard in 30.39 seconds.
“I knew Mark was fast, but my first horse was fast and still a second off his time,” Vanderveen said. “Bull Run’s Hesed is a bit of a newer ride for me, and I was pretty excited. Today was quite fun for me to learn a lot of new gears with this horse. I’ve never jumped the water with him, so I wanted to do that today. I kept thinking, ‘He’s fast. Let’s see where we’re going to end up.’ It was such a fun finish.”
Bluman’s speedy time kept him in second place with Daniel Bluman and Over The Top Stables LLC’s 12-year-old Mecklenburg gelding. Ireland’s Darragh Kenny finished third in 31.29 seconds aboard Serendepety (Stolzenberg x Escudo), Beerbaum Stables GMBH’s 9-year-old Hanoverian mare.