Vale is known to be a speedy rider, and his experience showed when he cut more than 1.6 seconds off Kenny’s time. “I got from [fence] one to two in nine [strides], which most of the fast ones did. Then I made a real effort to stay extra wide in the six [strides] from [fences] two to three, and I put a big curve in it. I could see I was inside everybody else’s tracks; I was in fresh dirt there,” a breathless Vale said after his win. “Not only was I tighter around, but then I found a forward distance to the oxer, so I knew if stayed on the strides coming home, he’d be quick enough.”

Vale was especially excited to take the win on a horse that’s been in the family for quite some time; the horse is owned and trained by his wife, Mallory. “We’ve had him since he was a 4-year-old, and my wife’s done 90% of the work on him,” he said of the 11-year-old gray Warmblood. “So to have one like him since he shipped in from Slovakia, it’s just fun.” 

Clean rounds were hard to come by in the initial course designed by Guilherme Jorge, with time faults breaking as many hearts as jumping faults. Fourteen horses qualified for the jump-off, but three American entries (Laura Kraut/Bisquetta, Kent Farrington/Greya, and Charlotte Jacobs/Playboy JT Z) elected not to return, preferring to save themselves for Saturday’s $400,000 Kentucky International CSI5* Grand Prix.