Mexican rising star, Juan Jose Zendejas Salgado made his presence known today, taking home the title of U25 Series Champion with a well-earned victory in the McNerney Family Winning Round competition. Not only did the win earn him top prize money and the championship title, Zendejas also earned himself a ticket to the famed Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament in September. After many years of competing at the Summer Series, this significant win was also the first Spruce Meadows International victory for this young athlete who piloted his talented partner of only a year, Tino La Chapelle, a 10 year-old Selle Francais gelding to the win. Zendejas had this to say about his winning round, “I have been dreaming of this since my first time coming to Spruce Meadows, I am very very happy! I rode my plan today keeping in mind to be smart, don’t go crazy – just try to do my best and I was lucky.” He continued, “I looked to give the horse a confident ride in the first round, and then just let him do his thing in the second. This is my horse of a life time, he is very hot and sensitive so you have to be precise with him. But I’ve been working hard with him to hopefully do big things in more years to come.” Jumping to second place in this afternoon’s winning round competition was incredibly talented Karen Polle of Japan. Polle rode Little Lord 90, a 12 year-old Holstein gelding, to a double clear score card arriving to the finish line behind Zendejas impressive round by 2.13 seconds. This added another great finish to Polle’s resume after a major win in Thursday’s feature competition. Following a fraction of a second behind Polle, competing in his first ever Summer Series at Spruce Meadows, was Alex Matz(USA) riding his talented horses Cashew CR, a 9 year-old Holstein gelding by Cassini. The McNerney Family U25 1.45m competition was Matz second podium finish in the U25 series, and is sure to be one to watch in the coming years
Mexican rising star, Juan Jose Zendejas Salgado made his presence known today, taking home the title of U25 Series Champion with a well-earned victory in the McNerney Family Winning Round competition. Not only did the win earn him top prize money and the championship title, Zendejas also earned himself a ticket to the famed Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament in September. After many years of competing at the Summer Series, this significant win was also the first Spruce Meadows International victory for this young athlete who piloted his talented partner of only a year, Tino La Chapelle, a 10 year-old Selle Francais gelding to the win. Zendejas had this to say about his winning round, “I have been dreaming of this since my first time coming to Spruce Meadows, I am very very happy! I rode my plan today keeping in mind to be smart, don’t go crazy – just try to do my best and I was lucky.” He continued, “I looked to give the horse a confident ride in the first round, and then just let him do his thing in the second. This is my horse of a life time, he is very hot and sensitive so you have to be precise with him. But I’ve been working hard with him to hopefully do big things in more years to come.” Jumping to second place in this afternoon’s winning round competition was incredibly talented Karen Polle of Japan. Polle rode Little Lord 90, a 12 year-old Holstein gelding, to a double clear score card arriving to the finish line behind Zendejas impressive round by 2.13 seconds. This added another great finish to Polle’s resume after a major win in Thursday’s feature competition. Following a fraction of a second behind Polle, competing in his first ever Summer Series at Spruce Meadows, was Alex Matz(USA) riding his talented horses Cashew CR, a 9 year-old Holstein gelding by Cassini. The McNerney Family U25 1.45m competition was Matz second podium finish in the U25 series, and is sure to be one to watch in the coming years