Fagerstrom and Flower Win Again

Competition continued today at Tryon Spring 5 with additional hunter and jumper action across the Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) venue. Nina Fagerstrom (FIN) and Flower raced to the top of the $15,000 Suncast® 1.45 Welcome Stake, taking home their second victory in two short days of competition. Competition at Tryon Spring 5 continues through Sunday, May 17 and the Tryon Spring Series will conclude on June 7.

Fagerstrom and Flower have had a strong start to their first week at TIEC, taking both the $1,000 Nutrena 1.40m Open Jumper class yesterday and the $15,000 Suncast® 1.45m Welcome Stake this afternoon in the George H. Morris Stadium. Fagerstrom, who was extremely pleased with her rounds aboard Flower the past two days, was delighted with Guilherme Jorge’s course design in this afternoon’s class. The pair finished their first trip clean in 73.281 seconds and finished four seconds faster than the closest competitor in the jump-off, in 34.901 seconds.

„I thought today’s course was a fun course to ride. There were enough things to think about with the lines and everything, especially with the triple combination, it was tricky to come back to elements B and C because they were so tight,“ she explained. „She was really responsive to me today. When I asked her to wait she really listened and jumped up. It was easy for her today, which is good. It was a great feeling to ride.“

Flower has handled the atmosphere at TIEC very well, which Fagerstrom believes is a testament to the mare’s growing maturity and has made her very rideable so far this week in competition.

„She’s been so quiet since we got here which is really unusual for her. She really likes it here and clearly likes the big ring,“ commented Fagerstrom. „It puts the pressure on for Saturday night. She’s been jumping just amazing. It tells me though that my horses are in great form and to perform like that two days on the road is pretty amazing.“

The class today prepped several combinations for the biggest test of the week, the $50,000 Tryon Grand Prix on Saturday evening and Fagerstrom commented that it helped her to mentally prepare for what the duo will see on Saturday night.

„I thought that was just a course to overall be awake around. The verticals were very tall and you knew you had to set them up to several of the jumps. It was very fair and I felt like the faults came throughout the course, not just in a single spot, which is a real testament to the course design,“ she stated. „I knew this horse could handle it, so I wasn’t nervous, but it was good experience.“

Fagerstrom also had another ride in the class, Hot Topic, who is green to the level but is just as talented as her barn mate, Flower, and gained valuable experience at the 1.45m height today.

„There was a big difference between yesterday’s 1.30m and today, so she did have a couple of rails, but I thought those are faults that she will learn from,“ said Fagerstrom. „She finished lovely though and I’m really happy with the way both of them jumped today.“

Kyle Timm and Georgie B finished in second with a time of 38.193 in the jump-off with Hunter Holloway and I Love Lucy in third, finishing the jump-off in 34.827 seconds with four faults.

Final Results for $15,000 Suncast® 1.45m Welcome Stake
1. FLOWER, 2005 Belgian Warmblood mare by Bon Ami x Release vh Lindehof
NINA FAGERSTROM, Finca Horses Inc.: 0/0/34.901
2. GEORGIE B, 2006 Irish Sport Horse gelding by Cruising
KYLE TIMM, Kyle Timm: 0/0/38.193
3. I LOVE LUCY, 2005 Slovakian Warmblood mare by Corrado II x Laura
HUNTER HOLLOWAY, Hays Investment Corporation: 0/4/34.827
4. FORGIVEN, 2005 Belgian Warmblood gelding by Chatman x Polydor
DEREK PETERSEN, Derek Petersen: 0/4/36.564
5. FINE FLEUR, 2005 Belgian Warmblood mare by Carteir vd Heffinck
HAYLEY WATERS, Dana Waters: 0/4/34.946
6. CASSEVEL, 2007 Holsteiner gelding by Cassini II x Tamara IX
HUNTER HOLLOWAY, Hays Investment Corporation: 0/4/37.313
7.KENWOOD 2003 Oldenburg gelding by Kannan x Gertie
DANIEL GEITNER, The Kenwood Syndicate: 0/4/37.792
8. VALINSKI S, 2002 Dutch Warmblood gelding by Ninjinski x Rockina
CANDICE KING, Wyndmont Inc.: 0/4/38.491

Hunt Tosh and Largesse Win $1,000 USHJA Pre-Green Hunter Incentive
Hunt Tosh has staked his claim at TIEC this week, placing towards the top in majority of his classes, with a series of impressively scored rounds. Aboard Ken and Ceil Wheeler’s Largesse in today’s $1,000 USHJA Pre-Green Incentive, Tosh bested the class of fifteen entries to take home the first major class of WCHR Week.

„Largesse is great. He’s a new one that we got this winter and I think he’s won almost every class. We’re really excited about him,“ commented Tosh. „He’s been spectacular. He’s a beautiful type and an incredible jumper. He just went beautiful today and really settled in.“

Largesse has the potential to be a top mount for Tosh in the coming years and today’s win in the Pre-Green Incentive with a score of 89 on their first trip, solidified Tosh’s feeling about the impressive gelding.

„He competed a couple of times in Florida and was champion there and this is only our second venue of the year and he was just great. We’re incredibly excited to have him as a First Year next year,“ he said. „We needed to do some Pre-Green Incentives with him this year and we’re really looking forward to the finals with him. He got a 90 yesterday. He’s just throwing up really high scores right now, which is great. He’s special and just so much fun to ride.“

Tosh also finished in second and fourth places aboard The Wheeler Family’s Valhalla and Troubadour respectively. Daniel Geitner finished in second with Janet Peterson’s Raffle.

Competition continues at Tryon Spring 5 tomorrow with the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby beginning at 6pm in the George H. Morris Stadium alongside the $25,000 Under 25 Grand Prix, which will also be held in the George H. Morris Stadium beginning at 12pm.

For more information on TIEC and a full event schedule, please visit www.tryon.com

Source: Press release