Galloping as fast as she could, Sarah Segal and Ubris, owned by Chartwell, shaved two-tenths of a second off her nearest competitor’s time to take first place in Friday's $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix at HITS-on-the-Hudson II. Segal went last in a jump-off of six contenders. Jonathan Corrigan went first in the shortened course on Aries, owned by Noel Gross, but failed to clear the third obstacle and had four faults. Going next was Adrienne Iverson on Redfield Farm's Donar R with a clear round, clocking in at 42.353, setting the Great American Time to Beat. Judy Garofalo Torres on Quattro Queen owned by Juan Torres took to the course third, quickly resetting the Great American Time to Beat just a half-second shorter than Corrigan, with a clean ride in 42.300. That time was reset once again by the next rider, as Jeffery Welles finished in 39.887 with no faults on Cord 11, owned by Meco Equestrian LLC. Welles' time held through the next rider, Ragan Roberts and Quipit L.F., owned by Quipit Group, who had four faults at the last fence. Segal then entered the ring and did not slow for a moment, even on a tight rollback near the very end of the course, to claim first place, clocking in at a brisk 39.647 seconds. "It was a great course. I love the course designer (Marina Azevedo of Sao Paulo, Brazil) — she’s built really great courses all week," said Segal. Segal said of Ubris, "The jump-off was great for her because she's so great on angles and slices and turns; you can totally trust her. She kind of got underneath one vertical but she figured out a way to jump it." Segal said that, going sixth, she knew she needed to go as fast as possible to overtake the Great American Time to Beat set by Welles. "Jeffery was really fast, as it sounded from his time and the people watching," she said. "I was not trying to go slow and careful — that was as fast as I could do that jump-off." Welles said he was pleased with his horse, as it was the first time he has ridden Cord 11 in a Grand Prix. "It's a new relationship," he said.
