Karen Polle concluded Wednesday night’s competition at the Royal Horse Show with a win in the $36,000 Jolera International Jumper Welcome riding Little Lord 90 (Lasino x Calato).
Polle, 26, and the 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding entered the Coca-Cola Coliseum as the 15th of 20 entries invited to navigate the Alan Wade designed speed track, and, despite a slight stumble after the fourth fence, they flew straight to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 57.45 seconds.
“I was very surprised when I looked up and saw that I was in first,” said Polle, who has had Little Lord 90 for the last year and a half. “I added a stride to fence three, and I almost fell off after fence four when he tripped! After that though, my round got really nice and smooth, and he felt great. He’s definitely a very quick horse, and he’s very game.
“Obviously we’re off to a good start, and I hope the rest of the week goes well too,” continued Polle, who is making her Royal Horse Show debut this week. “I’ve heard amazing things about this show, so I always really wanted to come. I’m just so excited to be here.”
Only fractions of a second separated all three of the top finishers, with another newcomer to the Royal Horse Show, Australia’s Rowan Willis, tripping the timers in 57.64 seconds riding Shark (Arko x Pilot) to take second, and Devin Ryan of the United States riding Cooper (Unaniem x Baloubet du Rouet) to the third-place finish in a time of 57.76 seconds.
Competition at the Royal Horse Show continues through Saturday with show jumping highlights including the $85,000 GroupBy ‘Big Ben’ International Challenge on Thursday night, the $50,000 Weston Canadian Open on Friday night, and the highly-anticipated conclusion, the $205,000 Longines FEI Jumping World CupTM Toronto, presented by GroupBy, on Saturday, November 10.
Karen Polle wins Jolera International Jumper Welcome in Toronto
