Jumper competition during Week V of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (GLEF), presented by CaptiveOne Advisors, continued Thursday, August 5, at the Flintfields Horse Park. A new week of sport brought new athletes to the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring, including a field of 45 competitors for the $36,600 Winning Round CSI3*. Taking the top prize at the conclusion of the competitive class was Kyle King, who rode Seabright Investments’ Enzo to the fastest, fault-free ride of the day.
Brazil’s Guilherme Jorge was tasked with crafting the 12-effort course fit for the CSI3* ranking. The 1.45m first-round track tested riders and their mounts through a series of obstacles, including a double and triple combination that served as determining factors in which 10 athletes would advance to the second round. As the first to enter the arena, Gabriela Reutter (CHI) and Maharees Rock set the precedent for the remaining pairs, posting a time of 72.323 with 4 faults to the scoreboard. Only one round later, Jose Antonio Chedraui Prom (MEX) and Mighty Mouse would become the pathfinder of the first round track as the first combination to put in a fault-free round in 70.140 seconds. A total of 17 riders would replicate the clear effort, putting themselves in contention for the jump-off, however, only 10 of the fastest clear rounds would be invited back to battle it out for the leading position, including Ireland’s Paul O’Shea and Chancelloress, who had the fastest first round time of 64.16 seconds.
Bliss Heers (USA) and Goodbye were the first combination to return for the jump-off, tripping the timers in 37.28 seconds with 4 faults to their names. Second to enter the arena, Catherine Tyree (USA), rode the first clear round aboard her own 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Bokai. Tyree’s time of 36.45 seconds would place her in the lead, but three trips later Ireland’s Gavin Harley would bump her down on a clear round time of 36.41 seconds with Clear Ride LLC’s 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion, Kavalli Di Magico. Harley’s lead would be short lived, however, as King and Enzo put the pedal to the metal to race through the timers in 35.14 seconds without tipping any rails. The remaining three athletes would try their best to catch King’s time, but none could do it without accruing faults to their scores, ultimately crowning him the winner and leaving Harley in second place while Tyree rounded out the top three.
King spoke highly of his partner of three years, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Seabright Investments, stating that the jump-off format played in his favor with room to open up his large stride and gallop between fences to leave strides out across the course. King has celebrated a number of podium finished throughout his time at Flintfields Horse Park, including a second place finish in the $230,000 TraverseCity.com Grand Prix CSI5* with Magic Mike and helping Team Road Runners to a third place finish in the Major League Show Jumping $200,000 Team Competition CSI5* aboard Etalon. However, an unfortunate accident for one of King’s friends, Stuart Belkin, made his win in the $36,600 Winning Round CSI3* and his other top results at GLEF all that more meaningful for him and his trusty partners.
Source: Press Release