Olympic gold medalist and Pennsylvania National Horse Show crowd-favorite McLain Ward topped the leaderboard in the $30,000 Beyaert Farm 1.45m Grand Prix aboard Lezaro on Thursday, October 20, in Harrisburg, PA.
Ward and the 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding came to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex fresh off a victory in the CSI3* Grand Prix of Greenwich (Connecticut) two weeks ago, and they replicated their winning ways to top the 33-horse field on Thursday night at the PNHS.
Following the first round, Ward and Lezaro were one of 13 entries qualified to come back for the Anderson Lima designed jump-off track, and they made short work of the course, stopping the clock in 37.78 seconds. Finishing exactly one second behind for second place were Laura Chapot and Calafornia, owned by Mary Chapot, and Mattias Tromp and Beyaert Farm Inc’s Infuria P&P rounded out the top three.
"I think the course designer, Anderson Lima, did a nice job here. It was a nice strong 1.45m with a couple 1.50ms, I thought it rode well, so that's a good sign for the class on Saturday,” said Ward, referencing Saturday night’s $100,000 Grand Prix de Penn National.
“[This is] an incredible facility with obviously multiple rings and a lot of room for everybody, and it has a lot of history so it's always nice to be here,” continued Ward
Source: Press Release Pennsylvania National Horse Show
Photo: © Andrew Ryback Photography
Ward and the 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding came to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex fresh off a victory in the CSI3* Grand Prix of Greenwich (Connecticut) two weeks ago, and they replicated their winning ways to top the 33-horse field on Thursday night at the PNHS.
Following the first round, Ward and Lezaro were one of 13 entries qualified to come back for the Anderson Lima designed jump-off track, and they made short work of the course, stopping the clock in 37.78 seconds. Finishing exactly one second behind for second place were Laura Chapot and Calafornia, owned by Mary Chapot, and Mattias Tromp and Beyaert Farm Inc’s Infuria P&P rounded out the top three.
"I think the course designer, Anderson Lima, did a nice job here. It was a nice strong 1.45m with a couple 1.50ms, I thought it rode well, so that's a good sign for the class on Saturday,” said Ward, referencing Saturday night’s $100,000 Grand Prix de Penn National.
“[This is] an incredible facility with obviously multiple rings and a lot of room for everybody, and it has a lot of history so it's always nice to be here,” continued Ward
Source: Press Release Pennsylvania National Horse Show
Photo: © Andrew Ryback Photography