Krome’s shortened 7-fence jump-off course brought new challenges forward, including introducing two new fences on course and offering multiple opportunities to slice and dice through the track. As the pathfinders, veteran Ashe Cawley and Adamo left nothing to chance as they narrowly left all of the rails in the cups and crossed the timers in 39.86 seconds. Immediately taking over Ashe Cawley was 25-year-old Matz and Cashew CR, owned by Dorothy Matz. The pair managed to shave just three-tenths of a second off of Ashe Cawley’s time to slide into the top spot on the leaderboard, notching 39.66 seconds on the clock.
Meadows and her own Christy JNR would attempt to unseat Matz, however, the duo knocked one rail on course to finish on four faults in 41.60 seconds. Immediately following, New Zealand native Wordley wowed the crowd riding Lauren Balcomb’s Verdini D’Houtveld Z with ease around the difficult track, leaving it all in the ring for their shot at the winner’s circle. The pair galloped through the finish line in 39.62 seconds, narrowly taking over first place by a margin of just four-hundredths of a second. Though Dello Joio aboard Opium du Soufflet and Robitaille aboard Ginger Pop would try their best to claim victory, it was ultimately awarded to Wordley and Verdini D’Houtveld Z for their impressive effort. Matz and Cashew CR finished out the class in second place, while Ashe Cawley and Adamo rounded out the top three.
The future is bright for Wordley and the 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, as the pair has their sights set on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Recently shortlisted, Wordley has been preparing the green gelding for their shot at a podium finish later this year. Wordley only started moving up Verdini D’Houtveld Z to the 1.50m height over the last couple of months, but he spoke highly of the talented gelding’s progress and is looking forward to showing off his skills in Tokyo.
Wordley’s win also earned him valuable points towards the 2021 edition of Kentucky Horse Shows’ Hagyard Rider Challenge, placing himself in top contention for the lion’s share of the bonus prize money. Hagyard Equine Medical Institute has hosted the Challenge series since 2006 and the highly sought after bonus prize of $20,000 will be awarded to the professional rider accumulating the most points in the classes that make up the Hagyard Rider Challenge series. Just two events remain for athletes to nab points toward the grand prize, including the $50,000 Hagyard Grand Prix, taking place Saturday August 7th at the Kentucky Summer Classic, and the $50,000 The Betsy Grand Prix, presented by Hagyard, set to take place at the Kentucky National Horse Show. The presentation of the Leading Rider Award award will take place during the Kentucky National Horse Show in September.