The conclusion to Week II of the Traverse City Spring Horse Show, presented by Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel, kicked off Sunday afternoon in the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring. A total of 35 international horse-and-athlete combinations vied for top honors in the $72,900 Four G Surfaces Grand Prix CSI2* in the hopes of closing out the week with a win. After a valiant fight to the finish, it was Canada’s Tiffany Foster and Artisan Farms LLC’s Vienna who claimed their rightful spot at the top of the leaderboard as the only pair to produce a double-clear effort.
Nick Granat (USA) offered a 13-fence first round course to whittle down the field of athletes who would qualify for the jump-off tie-breaker. Just seven pairs managed clear efforts, with many finding difficulty at the various triple-fence combinations on course, as well as two athletes incurring one time fault to leave them out of contention for the top prize. Jump-off competitors included Katie Laurie (AUS), Emily Ward (GBR), Jonathan Corrigan (IRL), Vani Khosla (USA), Ali Ramsay (CAN), Foster and Gustavo Prato (ARG).
Returning to the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring for one final shot at the lion’s share of the prize during Week II, Laurie and Cera Caruso, owned by Carissa McCall, were the pathfinding duo for the rest of the class. Coming off of an impressive top finish during Friday’s $36,600 Speed Classic CSI2*, Laurie hoped to nab another win, but unfortunately had two rails on course to finish on eight faults with a time of 37.50 seconds. Ward and Millioninmind followed, also incurring faults on course after knocking one rail, completing the jump-off on four faults in a time of 39.96 seconds to slip into the top spot. Immediately after, Corrigan and Super Chilled also managed to take a rail from the cups, finishing on four faults just behind Ward’s time in 40.39 seconds.
After refusals from Khosla riding Billy Mexico and Ramsay retiring with Bonita VH Keizershof Z, a double-clear effort was left up to just Foster and Prato. Foster had been knocking on the door of victory over the last two weeks, consistently finishing in the top three with Vienna. Foster and the 10-year-old Hannoverian mare entered the arena determined to conclude their time in Traverse City with a win, galloping quick across the ground and leaving all of the rails intact to complete the first double-clear effort of the day in a time of 40.11 seconds. Though Prato and King Van Het Keizershof would put their best foot forward, they could not catch Foster’s impressive lead to finish on 4 faults in 40.58 seconds. Ward’s quick four-fault round would ultimately lend her the second place honors, with Corrigan rounding out the top three.
Accumulating valuable points toward the 2021 CaptiveOne Advisors Open Jumper Rider Bonus, Foster’s win and her previous consistent placings allowed her to slip into the second position on the leaderboard, closing the week out on a total of 27 points. Laurie’s success over the last two weeks allowed her to hold her lead just one point ahead of Foster, concluding on a total of 28 points. Keeping a top position on the leaderboard after two major wins during Week I of the Traverse City Spring Horse Show, presented by Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel, Israel’s Daniel Bluman currently sits in the third position with a total of 24 points. Offering show jumping competitors the chance to accumulate points throughout the 12-week Traverse City Horse Shows series, the bonus is awarded to the athlete with the most points at the conclusion of the 2021 $230,000 American Gold Cup Grand Prix CSI5*, presented by CaptiveOne Advisors. The CaptiveOne Advisors Open Jumper Rider Bonus is a highly sought-after prize among the field of international competitors that attend Traverse City Horse Shows.
The third and final week of the Traverse City Spring Horse Show, presented by Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel, will kick-off Wednesday, June 23. Week III will conclude with the highlight show jumping event, the $137,000 Staller Grand Prix CSI3*, set to take place Sunday, June 27.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Tiffany Foster – $72,900 Four G Surfaces Grand Prix CSI2* winner
On producing the only double-clear effort:
“Those are the worst because you don’t know what to do, because if you start too slow then you have one rail down and you can’t catch up. Vienna is a very, very fast horse and I was trying to stay confident. She has been so consistent here, she hasn’t had one rail in both weeks. I think she has been in the top three of every class she has jumped. I just trusted her quality, took a little risk into the last double combination but I thought that she would handle it. She is really good off of her right lead, risk management, but it paid off! My working student Emily Ward was second place; she’s a little mad that I beat her but she loves Vienna, so I think she will forgive me!”
Source: Press Release