Victor Segovia of Venezuela jumped to victory in the $60,000 Country Heir II Grand Prix on Sunday, June 16, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. The 36-year-old topped a competitive field of 24 to take the win aboard Romeo, a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by The Romeo Group.
Only four riders managed to contest the first round track cleanly to advance to the jump-off. Segovia put in a second clear performance in a time of 43.96 seconds to secure the win. The only other rider to jump fault-free was Juan Ortiz, also of Venezuela, who finished runner-up aboard Accordance with a time of 45.35 seconds. Ireland's Shane Sweetnam riding Fine Man incurred four faults to take third while David Beisel and Ammeretto placed fourth with an eight-fault total.
"Lately, I've been trying to go fast at the beginning of the jump-off and by the end, Romeo gets strong and I have trouble turning," said Segovia, who came back first in the jump-off order. "This time, we decided to go for a nice, clear round; we didn't do the inside turns or try to leave strides out. Our strategy was to let those who followed do the inside turns and leave out strides and see if they made a mistake. Shane and David are very fast, and even though Juan has a naturally slower horse than mine, I was worried as I had been conservative in my track and knew that I had left the door open."
© press release - photo: J. Mancini
Victor Segovia of Venezuela jumped to victory in the $60,000 Country Heir II Grand Prix on Sunday, June 16, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. The 36-year-old topped a competitive field of 24 to take the win aboard Romeo, a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by The Romeo Group.
Only four riders managed to contest the first round track cleanly to advance to the jump-off. Segovia put in a second clear performance in a time of 43.96 seconds to secure the win. The only other rider to jump fault-free was Juan Ortiz, also of Venezuela, who finished runner-up aboard Accordance with a time of 45.35 seconds. Ireland's Shane Sweetnam riding Fine Man incurred four faults to take third while David Beisel and Ammeretto placed fourth with an eight-fault total.
"Lately, I've been trying to go fast at the beginning of the jump-off and by the end, Romeo gets strong and I have trouble turning," said Segovia, who came back first in the jump-off order. "This time, we decided to go for a nice, clear round; we didn't do the inside turns or try to leave strides out. Our strategy was to let those who followed do the inside turns and leave out strides and see if they made a mistake. Shane and David are very fast, and even though Juan has a naturally slower horse than mine, I was worried as I had been conservative in my track and knew that I had left the door open."
© press release - photo: J. Mancini