Ward Mclain and Rotchild top the AIG $1 Million at HITS Thermal

USA’s McLain Ward and Rothchild (Artos Z x Elegant de L’ile) were best in the fourth annual AIG $1 Million during the final week of HITS Thermal Desert Circuit. Ward already earned two prior, career wins in $1 Million classes— in 2010 and  in 2012—but this was his first $1 Million victory to materialize in Thermal, California.

 

Course designer, Ireland’s Alan Wade, managed to build subtle questions into his track that kept the jump-off count to three.

 

The first to ride in the starting order of 33, Jayne, 2015’s runner-up, thrilled the crowd by delivering a faultless round over the sprawling track. Jayne, too, rode his $1 Million mount from last year, 13-year-old, Zangersheide stallion Chill R Z (Chellano Z x A Lucky One), that he placed 2^nd with in Thermal. Shortly after, the pair went on to win the Great American $1 Million at HITS Ocala.

The early clear was a deceptive indicator of the course’s challenges. Rails promptly fell throughout Wade’s design, which included a final line of a triple bar to a double combination to the AIG liverpool, all jumped directly toward the in gate.

Fourteen additional rounds were jumped after Jayne’s, before Ward’s round made for a jump off. And as the saying goes, clears often come in pairs, and the next rider, USA’s Jonathan McCrea, made for a three-man final round.

McCrea rode the 11-year-old, Dutch Warmblood stallion, Aristoteles V (Padinus x Lux Z). Like Ward and Jayne, McCrea traveled to California from his winter base in Wellington, Fla., and planned to compete his horse earlier in week. The original strategy had to be revised, but it all worked out for a solid result.