A total of 42 horse-and-rider combinations competed over the first round, Alan Wade-designed course, and of them 11 advanced to the short course. Rebecca Conway and Little Gancho, owned by Moonlite Beach, were the third to return for the jump-off, and they were the first to produce a double clear effort, setting the time to beat at 50.490 seconds. Sydney Shulman with Quidam 13 and Lorcan Gallagher with Casper were the next two to return, and, while they both had the time, they fell victim to one rail apiece.
Colin Syquia and Adventure E, owned by Eurasia Inc., came next and mimicked Conway and Little Gancho's performance with a double clear round. While Syquia rode the same strides as Conway down the lines, he shaved corners and in return also shaved time, finishing in 47.572 seconds.
"My horse is just learning to go fast at this height, so I'm really happy with him," Syquia said. "I've been riding him for about three years now, and he's just stepped up. This is only his third night class. He just really is a great horse."
While Syquia cut his corners, two trips later Bedoya came in and did what none of the riders before him had attempted: leaving out strides down three of the lines.
"From number three to the combination, everybody did nine strides; I did eight," Bedoya said. "And then I was able to go inside, and from nine to the liverpool everybody did nine, and again I did eight. The next line everybody did nine; I did eight. I could have done eight again to the last line, but then I got a little a chicken. I already got lucky enough before that, so I didn't want to push it."
Leaving the stride out at the last proved unnecessary as Bedoya had already made up the time, but it was cutting it close. Bedoya and Quattro tripped the timers less than one-tenth of a second behind Syquia and Adventure E to finish on 47.514 seconds and take the victory.
Blythe Marano would return two trips after Bedoya aboard Quabelle, owned by Riverview Farm, to finish in a time of 48.844 seconds, which would hold up to be good enough for third, with Syquia taking the second-place spot.
Success with Quattro is particularly meaningful for Bedoya who has owned the 9-year-old mount since the gelding was 5.
