The field saw 26 first-round trips on the Alan Wade (IRL)-designed course with eight horse-and-rider pairs earning the opportunity to try the jump-off track. Vanderveen revealed that today's win was only the 2009 Holsteiner gelding's second competition on grass footing and said, "The course was great today. This is a younger horse for me and it's only his second time ever competing on grass - the first time being this week in the $5,000 1.40m Speed Stake CSI 3* on Friday, so it was good."
Vanderveen has been paired with "Prince" for a year and has been taking her time bringing him along. "I think he has a lot of quality, so I want to make sure I don't rush him. He's just nine years old this year, so last year I kind of took my time and did 1.40m classes and haven't dabbled with too much FEI stuff, but now it feels like he's ready to step up and be part of the team," she explained. "He's a bit of a character in the barn - he is like a puppy dog and wants all the attention."
"I was a little bit torn," Vanderveen admitted about her jump-off plan, "just because I haven't really done so much with him, but then I saw Brian go and he had such a slick, smooth jump-off. I was like, 'There's only one way for this horse to learn. Let's give it a try!' I figured I'd try and be as slick and smooth as I could and he's naturally fast, so it was enough."
Vanderveen, who is headed next to Michigan and then Chicago said she would like to start trying some of the smaller CSI 2* Grand Prix classes with Prince moving forward, continuing his gradual education.