Renowned course designer Michel Vaillancourt designed a beautiful course that challenged the field of 18 riders and their horses tonight in the Welcome Grand Prix. During the Grand Prix, exhibitors enjoyed the Grand Prix Happy Hour Sponsored by the Murieta Equestrian Center and the Murieta Inn & Spa, catered by the Murieta Inn & Spa!
The first round tested the teams with a course of 16 efforts, which included a triple combination across the diagonal and a vertical – oxer combination on the rail by the crowd. At the end of round one, nine pairs continued to the jump off with a fault free first round.
The jump off was an annotated course of 8 obstacles. It included a vertical – oxer combination and the last fence was a lofty oxer heading towards the crowd in the VIP Lounge. The competitive field that entered the jump off included top professionals Peter Petschenig, Mandy Porter, Andrew Ramsay, Sarah Ballou, Mattias Ekeroth and top junior riders Ian McFarlane and Guido Klatte Jr, who is over for the first time from Germany.
In the end, Peter Petschenig and Saint Quentin galloped to victory a full second ahead of Andrew Ramsay and Stranger 30, who came in second. Behind Ramsay by only a tenth of a second was Mandy Porter on Coral Reef Follow Me II, who rounded out the top three!
“I was very pleased with the way the course rode,” said Vaillancourt. “It produced a very good result for a regional level, which is a stepping stone toward the national level. The jump off separated the field nicely. Overall, it was a very nice class and a great start in this Welcome Week Grand Prix.”