Five-star show jumping came to a close in the International Arena with 55 pairings geared up to race against the clock in the $62,500 Hermés CSI5* 1.50m Classic.
Once again, 11 duos did their all to advance on to the jump-off, but none proved to match the time of Carlos Hank Guerriero (MEX) and H5 Chacco-San. The jump-off featured a lineup of heavy hitters including Olympic Champion Ben Maher (GBR), Saturday Nights grand prix victor Richard Vogel (GER) and Canada’s Erynn Ballard (CAN) to name a few. However, Guerriero’s blazing-fast time of 34.22 seconds left him leading the way in the victory gallop.
“Honestly he tried so hard for me out there,” Guerriero gushed. “I have a very, very quick horse and I know normally if I do the same strides as most horses, he's almost always quicker than them. I knew if I tried to do something similar to Ben’s round, I could be faster.”
Guerriero has been partnered with H5 Sport Horses LLC’s 13-year-old Hannoverian gelding (Chacco-Blue x Sandro Boy) for close to five years and the two have risen together to be incredibly competitive at the five-star level.