Traverse City, MI – July 8, 2015 – The second week of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival kicked off with blue skies and brisk winds as horses and riders prepared for a full schedule of competition at the destination venue. New faces arrived at the Flintfields Horse Park, offering enticing jumper action as many of the nation’s top riders prepared their mounts for the week’s approaching highlights. David Beisel started out the second week in winning fashion, dominating the open jumper division with three decisive victories.
Keith Bollotte designed the courses in the Grand Prix Ring, challenging many of the young horses and up-and-coming mounts with a triple combination, liverpool, long lines, serpentine-like turns and rollbacks.
Beisel won the 1.20m Open Jumpers and the 1.25m Open Jumpers early in the day, while also earning the second place finish in the 1.30m Open Jumpers and the third place in the 1.35m Open Jumpers. It was his win with Call Me Hannes, owned by Harlow Investments Enterprises of Mason, Ohio, in the $3,000 1.40m Open Jumpers that proved to be the icing on the cake for a great start to the second week of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival.
“The courses were great for me, I had a good batting average over his courses today, so I was happy,” Beisel laughed.
The course catered well to Call Me Hannes’ speed and stride for the shortened track. Beisel rode the grey Holsteiner gelding to the time of 34.779 seconds, following their plan to shave the seconds. They were quick from the opening oxer through the rollback, leaving out a stride to what was originally the opening line and then sealing their victory with a sharp slice to the final vertical with a liverpool.
“I knew I could leave a stride out in the line because I learned with him during the winter that he is happy to leave a stride out,” Beisel elaborated. “I knew I could make the slice to the vertical because the liverpool was pulled way out, so I knew I had a good ground line, and there wasn’t too much risk.”
Beisel has been working with Call Me Hannes for about a year and a half, purchased from Derek Petersen. As an 8-year-old, Beisel worked with him to bring him to the grand prix level, an achievement they gained in Traverse City last summer.
“I think this is a nice venue to try to jump some bigger jumps, and this was where we competed in our first grand prix. Since then we have continued to solidify our partnership,” Beisel explained. “At 9 years old he has really grown up for me, and now we are working on consistency and learning to jump some bigger, tougher tracks. He just needs to get into the ring and get the mileage. Last week he held his breath a little bit. Today he was relaxed, and when he is like that, he is a lot of fun.”
Donald Cheska rode Calvigo to the second place finish in 35.962 seconds with a double clear round. Closing out the clean rounds of the 1.40m Open Jumper class was Beth Underhill with Count Me In, taking the third place in 38.807 seconds.
During the $1,500 1.35m Open Jumpers Liz Atkins of Hampshire, Illinois, navigated Bollotte’s jump-off track with blazing speed aboard Esconial, stopping the clock in 31.731 seconds as the last contender of the class.
“I rode today like a speed class because you have to with him, he is a little spooky,” Atkins explained. “He needs a positive ride, but not an aggressive one. He is spooky because he is super careful, but he has a ton of scope, so as long as you make sure to tell him to jump he will get you out of almost anywhere.”
Atkins, of Benchmark Stables, is aiming to move the 10-year-old Esconial into the grand prix level during the 2015/2016-show year. She plans to keep him consistent with good placings in the 1.40m Open Jumpers tomorrow, and then hopefully the $25,000 Welcome Stake on Friday.
This is Atkins’ first time showing at the Flintfields Horse Park, taking a leap of faith to show at the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival after hearing reviews from her peers and friends.
“I was looking for a new place to go in July,” Atkins described. “I had never been here and everyone was telling me how amazing it is, so I thought, ‘Why not give it a go?’ and it is a beautiful, amazing facility. I love it.”
Sarah Cleary, of Ireland, scored the second place finish with her time of 32.256 seconds aboard Imprimis. As the early leader of the class, it seemed as though her time would hold as even veteran rider Wilhelm Genn and For Fantoms Pleasure finished four-tenths of a second off her time, eventually earning the third place, but Atkins slid into the lead in the final moments.
Two-time Olympic Silver medalist Lisa Jacquin, of BDJ Enterprises in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, rode to the first place finish during the $1,250 1.30m Open Jumpers. She cleared the course in a swift 32.437 seconds with Chapel Z, with David Beisel and Rumorosa finishing just shy of her time in 32.664 seconds. Lauren Bardy and Calvin Het Wuitenshof rounded out the top three with a clear effort in a more conservative 34.773 seconds.
The Great Lakes Equestrian Festival continues tomorrow with the Open Jumper divisions, the Young Jumper Championship (YJC) classes for 5, 6 and 7-year-olds, as well as classes for the Low and High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumpers. Highlights for the week include the $25,000 Welcome Stake on Friday afternoon, the $10,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic and the $50,000 Grand Prix of Michigan on Sunday.
For more information or to view schedules, please visit www.stadiumjumping.com or www.
Source: Press release