Adrienne Sternlicht claimed the $10,000 Wölffer Estate Open Jumper 1.40m speed class, with Fantast, their third win in a row at the Hampton Classic. They stopped the clock in a time of 55.868 seconds. Ireland’s Richie Moloney was second with Merqusio on a time of 57.121 seconds and Molly Ashe-Cawley and Berdien were third, in a time of 57.255 seconds.
Although weather played a factor with the Wednesday afternoon timetable at the Classic, you’d never have known it watching the top combinations pilot their partners across the spectacular new grand prix ring Wednesday morning.
“It was only lightly raining when I went, unlike Richie – when he stepped into the ring it just came down,” remarked Sternlicht following the class. “Rain notwithstanding, I thought today was perhaps the most difficult 1.40m class I’ve jumped. The track looked quite difficult when I walked it, the second fence although it’s a vertical, is set on the middle standards, and it’s a bit spooky and airy for the horses. I thought it might cause some problems. There were rollback turns that needed care, and difficult options to the spooky Liverpool. I thought today was easily the most difficult track we’ve jumped all week.
“I tried to be neat and tidy everywhere, but as the week has progressed with this horse, I’ve been able to ride him better and better. Today I was working on supporting him more at the right moments and knew where I had to take time. I also knew where I could take a chance and how to help him in those places. I’m very happy with him.”
The second class in the Grand Prix ring was the $10,000 7-and-Under Jumpers, which Heather Caristo-Williams won with Celtic Hero BZ. They stopped the clock in 58.362 seconds. Victoria Birdsall and Maestro Van Het Binnenveld finished second in 58.475 seconds and Natalie Dean was third with Maestro Vica V/D Ark in 59.966 seconds.
“I’m so happy with how Celtic jumped today,” said Caristo-Williams. “He loves a big field and he was trying so hard. It was raining a lot when we started our round, and I was really impressed with how the footing held up and how solid my horse felt out there. I felt very comfortable going fast and turning tight.”