Gregory Wathelet is on a Desert Circuit winning streak, and on Thursday, January 23, he amassed his third win of the past six days. This time, Wathelet rode Argentina de la Marchette to victory in the $63,000 CSI4* 1.50m Welcome Speed, and the Belgian rider also took home second place aboard Ace of Hearts.
When Wathelet entered the Grand Prix Arena at the Desert International Horse Park on his first mount, Ace of Hearts, the time to beat had been set at 63.85 seconds by the very first pair in the ring, Ireland’s Conor Swail and Theo 160 (Christian x Calando IV).
“I saw Conor; he was quite fast!” said Wathelet, who was the sixth of 36 entries with “Ace,” the horse that he rode to a top 10 finish at the 2024 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ - Final. “I know that Ace isn’t the fastest horse, but I can move on and ask him to go a bit.”
That’s just what Wathelet did, stopping the clock in 62.64 seconds to take over the top of the leaderboard. That time would ultimately prove uncatchable by anyone but Wathelet himself. With Argentina de la Marchette, he blazed through the timers in 62.34 seconds to relegate his own Ace of Hearts to second place. Swail and Theo 160’s time would hold up for third place, while the USA’s Kaitlin Campbell and Sun Warrior finished in fourth.
“I knew I had a second chance with Argentina coming behind, and she’s very quick,” said Wathelet of his 13-year-old grey mare. “I was for sure already very happy with my round with Ace. Coming by the end with Argentina, I just thought, ‘I’m going to go for sure fast.’ I know that she can do that. She’s very quick…I was a bit worried because she was a bit scared in the warm-up, but she came in the ring and was completely fine. I had a plan, and the plan went like I thought. She jumped super, really good, and at the end I was just a bit faster!”
When Wathelet entered the Grand Prix Arena at the Desert International Horse Park on his first mount, Ace of Hearts, the time to beat had been set at 63.85 seconds by the very first pair in the ring, Ireland’s Conor Swail and Theo 160 (Christian x Calando IV).
“I saw Conor; he was quite fast!” said Wathelet, who was the sixth of 36 entries with “Ace,” the horse that he rode to a top 10 finish at the 2024 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ - Final. “I know that Ace isn’t the fastest horse, but I can move on and ask him to go a bit.”
That’s just what Wathelet did, stopping the clock in 62.64 seconds to take over the top of the leaderboard. That time would ultimately prove uncatchable by anyone but Wathelet himself. With Argentina de la Marchette, he blazed through the timers in 62.34 seconds to relegate his own Ace of Hearts to second place. Swail and Theo 160’s time would hold up for third place, while the USA’s Kaitlin Campbell and Sun Warrior finished in fourth.
“I knew I had a second chance with Argentina coming behind, and she’s very quick,” said Wathelet of his 13-year-old grey mare. “I was for sure already very happy with my round with Ace. Coming by the end with Argentina, I just thought, ‘I’m going to go for sure fast.’ I know that she can do that. She’s very quick…I was a bit worried because she was a bit scared in the warm-up, but she came in the ring and was completely fine. I had a plan, and the plan went like I thought. She jumped super, really good, and at the end I was just a bit faster!”