Abigail McArdle and Harriri V.D. Maltahoeve Best $10,000 #1 Education Place Open Stakes Class

Abigail McArdle of St. Charles, IL, and Harriri V.D. Maltahoeve, owned by Plain Bay Sales, took a commanding win in the $10,000 #1 Education Place Open Stakes Class at PBIEC on Saturday, December 5, finishing the jump-off round with a time of 37.873 seconds. Sharn Wordley piloted two mounts to the top three as Hickstead's Axel, owned by Ashland Stables, finished in second with a jump-off time of 38.013 seconds and Charline 28, owned by Sky Group, collected third place, adding four faults to their time of 37.145 seconds.

McArdle carefully guided Harriri V.D.Maltahoeve to victory after both the jump-off and first round track proved to be challenging for many of the afternoon's entries as a steady rain fell during the class.

"I came into the class knowing that she was going to be much more careful because of the rain, but if you know that beforehand, you don't need to prepare any differently," commented McArdle. "This is a super young horse that we have as well as a few other young horses down here right now and I think that this is a really nice way to start the season and prepare with these pre-circuit shows."

McArdle has steadily risen through the ranks, as the talented young rider has collected several major victories this year and has her sights set on continuing with that consistency moving into next season. She explained, "I'd like to get my grand prix horse up in the rankings a bit more this season and look to improve there. We have a lot of nice sales horses coming down this season and I think it will be great to get them experience as well."