The highlight event for week 10 of the 2019 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) was the $134,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix CSI 3* on Saturday, March 16, and coming away with the victory was Amanda Derbyshire (GBR) riding Roulette BH for Gochman Sport Horses LLC. There were 45 entries in the grand prix, all competing over a course designed by Michel Vaillancourt of Canada. Of those entries, four found the path to a clear round and the jump-off. In a fitting finish during Women’s History Month, four ladies were competing for the top spot in the grand prix. Returning first was Amy Millar (CAN) riding Truman, a 10-year-old Selle Francais gelding by Mylord Carthago*HN x Kolibri owned by Millar Brooke Farm Ltd. They set a nice pace with the all-important clear round in 45.65 seconds, which would hold up for second place. “Everyone in the jump-off had the ability to go quickly,” said Millar, who was an Olympian for Canada in 2016. “I essentially had to go as fast as I felt comfortable and leave the jumps up. I must say, I did think I was going to do one less stride in both of those lines when I made my plan. Then it just wasn’t working out that way. I just rode the plan and left the jumps up, and I feel fortunate that I finished second.” Millar termed Truman as a “completely for Canada” horse. She explained, “It’s a pretty great story about this horse. I bought him from Eric Lamaze, and Tiffany [Foster] helped me find the horse when we were all in Europe getting ready for the Rio Olympics. They sold me the horse as a seven-year-old. Then, last year I had a baby, so my dad, Ian Millar, trained the horse for me all last year, got him going around these 1.50m grand prix. I came back this season and have capitalized on everything that everyone has done to help me with the horse.” Next in was a woman known for her incredible speed in jump-offs. Laura Chapot and Mary Chapot’s Chandon Blue have had a great run at WEF so far with six top-three finishes, including the two-star grand prix win at WEF 9. But it was not to be another victory for the pair as they pulled a rail for four faults in 43.07 seconds. They finished in third place. “It’s hard to say,” said Chapot when asked about the rail that fell. “That was a difficult combination in the first round, and I think coming off a long gallop and then a short turn back to it, he just got over-steadied a little bit and slowed down. Derbyshire started riding Roulette BH, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding by Moschino x Michellino, in May of 2018 and had to work with the “very, very strong” horse that had previously been ridden by a man. “For literally the last nine months, we’ve been working on rideability so in the jump-off I can actually let him go,” she said. “We took it pretty slow last summer, and we didn’t face him at all the big stuff. I think by doing that we’ve trusted each other. He’s jumped I think three grand prix here, and he’s been clear every time. I had a time fault once. We haven’t tried to over show him. We’ve got big plans for the future.” Those big plans include the Nations Cups at Dublin and Hickstead, plus another big championship that is just around the corner. “The big aim is 2020 for him for sure,” she said of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
