As the clouds parted way to the sunshine on Friday, August 1, 2025, at HITS Hudson Valley in Saugerties, New York, another morning of competitive international show jumping shined in the spotlight of the Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Stadium . Riders lined up to contest the penultimate day of FEI sport in the third and final week of the Hudson Valley Jumping Tour®. Boasting a weekly FEI CSI3* division, the series has hosted a field of high-quality talent, including several of the top-ten ranked riders in the world. One of those top-ranked riders, Mclain Ward (USA), claimed the blue-ribbon honors in the morning’s $40,000 Go Rentals CSI3* Winning Round with his new rising star, La Serra.
A total of 24 combinations representing five different nations contested Ken Chrome’s (USA) first-round track, and, as per the winning round format, the top 12 riders returned on a clean slate for the short course in reverse order of their first-round performance. Eight pairs navigated the opening round fault-free, while one combination incurred a single time fault, and another three duos finished with four faults over the course.
Having already produced several impressive performances throughout the week on the 11-year-old Holsteiner mare (Casall Ask x Lacros) he co-owns with Susan Heller and Marta Mattox, Ward was hungry for a win and left nothing to chance over both rounds. Following two impeccably executed and fast rounds, Ward put in his own blazing fast time of 35.25 seconds to take the top call.
“She’s had a great week, and, really, she’s had a great season, particularly after Florida,” detailed Ward. “She has really started to rack up some great results. We’ve moved her up a little bit to some bigger classes recently, and she’s handled them well. I’m very proud of how she’s performing.
“She’s a very careful mare, so she’s been a little slow in developing,” he continued. “It took some time, but I think for sure she is starting to come into her own.”
Representing a truly international winning lineup, Olympian Nayel Nassar of Egypt jumped into the second place position. Nassar returned with an original four faults in the first round, but raced to a clean and fast finish in round two with a time of 35.97 seconds aboard his star mount Coronado, the Evergate Stables LLC’s 16-year-old Holsteiner gelding (San Patrignano Cassini x Acord II). Rounding out the victory lap and representing Ireland, fellow Evergate Stables rider Philip McGuane piloted the Evergate Stables LLC’s eight-year-old KWPN mare (Aganix du Seigneur x Numero Uno), My Lady van de Krekel, to the third-place position with a fault-free finish in 37.35 seconds.
“The Northeast, in general, has really attracted most of the top people in the United States back to this region of the country,” said Ward of the caliber of competition at the HITS Hudson Valley venue. “It’s such a wonderful part of the country, and maybe I’m biased because I live here. I think the job that HITS has done here clearly proves if you invest in a first class facility, the top competitors will come and compete.”
