The 2015 edition of the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair is quickly becoming the year of McLain Ward. It seems no matter the day, no matter the horse and no matter the course, his name can be found in lights. The Devon regular racked up his third win of the week aboard Adele during the $10,000 Open Jumper “Hit & Hurry,” sponsored by Green Drop.
“It’s been a pretty good week so far,” smiled Ward. “I had two 8-year-olds win classes which is nice, and then one old girl. I guess Rothchild needs to step up tomorrow, doesn’t he?”
During Wednesday night’s highlight event, competitors earned two points for each correctly jumped obstacle and one point for each obstacle knocked down. They were given a fixed time of 50 seconds to get as far through the course as possible. Once the bell rang to signify the end of the 50 seconds, they had to jump the next fence on course to determine their total time to be used as a tiebreaker.
Kirk Webby was the first rider to accumulate 20 points with Tolleshunt Investment Group’s Brando du Rouet, but his time was beaten in the next round by Hayley Waters and No Doubt, who also had 20 points. Webby and Waters would finish sixth and fourth respectively, and Kaitlin Campbell slipped in for the fifth place finish, earning 20 points with Whish LLC’s Gabriel.
When Ward tackled the track with the 8-year-old mare Adele, it was clear they were aiming for the win. The talented young horse easily cleared each obstacle with incredible scope and used her large stride to make up time between fences. They had 22 points with a time of 55.379 seconds to take the lead.
Devin Ryan tried to catch them, and had the time in 53.026 seconds, but with only 20 points on Liratus they would place third. The only other rider to beat the 20-point mark was Laura Chapot with Bradberry. They could have taken the win with a fast time of 54.065, but a rail at the seventh fence meant they would only earn 21 points to place second behind Ward.
“I knew Laura was coming behind me, and if she laid it down she was probably going to beat us,” admitted Ward after the victory gallop. “I didn’t have the experience to take all the risks. Adele was right there at every turn. She’s not going to have a fence down very often, so that’s nice.”
Adele is a mount Ward purchased two years ago with the Tisbo family, and he hopes has a bright future. “She’s 8 and needs experience, but she’s very, very careful,” he explained. “We bought her as a 6-year-old, and we’ve slowly brought her along. She did the 1.40m in Florida, and she jumped a lot of clear rounds. She’s a trier – she’s really allergic to the rails. She has an exciting future and a lot of talent.”
The only Open Jumper victory that did not go to Ward this week was Wednesday afternoon’s $10,000 Open Jumpers. Only two riders managed to clear the track, and when Georgina Bloomberg chose to save Caleno 3’s jump-off effort for another day the win went to Aaron Vale riding Sarah Turner’s Acolina R. Hayley Barnhill rounded out the top three, leaving all the fences intact during the first round, but crossing the finish line with Barnhill Enterprises’ Zephire with two time faults.
“I think for the horses that were in there it was obviously difficult today,” said Vale. “I’d call it a solid 1.45m all the way around, square oxers, a couple of tight lines. The combination was long to short. It was fairly technical for a weekday Open Jumper class.”
Luckily for Vale, Acolina R had all the answers to the course’s questions. “She’s a super jumper, but a little bit difficult brain,” he explained. “She’s got spectacular days, and she’s got days where I’m scratching my head. She was very rideable for her today.”
Vale continued, “I flatted her like a racehorse today. I just kind of hobby horsed her around, kind of stood up off her back. She kept her head down the whole time. She came out and warmed up the best she’s ever warmed up and carried it into the ring. For her, that’s as close as she’s going to get to looking like a Medal/Maclay round. I’m pretty happy that I got it today. Hopefully I can recreate it more often.”
The last time Vale competed at the Devon Horse Show, he was 18 years old, and he’s excited to be back at the historic venue. On Thursday night, he will compete in the $100,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon with Acolina R and Equi-Sport’s E.S. Finou 4.
Earlier in the day, the young jumpers competed at the Devon Horse Show. During the 7 & 8-Year-Old Young Jumpers, Melissa Rudershausen topped the jump-off riding Ugolin Du Mont. Hayley Waters placed second with Rio Cachet, while Katie Dinan and Angelina 317 scored the third place award.
Taylor Flury was first and second in the 5-Year-Old Young Jumpers aboard Catania Saflo Z and Diamant D’Heure ABF, respectively. Alison Flury rounded out the top three with Cosmea Z. In the 6-Year-Old Young Jumpers Taylor Flury once again claimed the victory, this time riding Jett B. Michael Hughes and Bonvenau followed in second place, with Jaime Auletto and Ecamorka taking home the third place honors.
The highlight event of the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair will take place Thursday night at 8 p.m. with the $100,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon, where the country’s top horse and rider combinations will vie for the winning prize.
For more information about the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair and complete results, please visit www.DevonHorseShow.org.
RESULTS: Class 244, $10,000 OPEN JUMPER
1 1817 ADELE MCLAIN WARD 22.000
2 176 BRADBERRY LAURA CHAPOT 21.000
3 1018 Liratus DEVIN RYAN 20.300
4 269 NO DOUBT HAYLEY WATERS 20.200
5 685 GABRIEL KAITLIN CAMPBELL 20.100
6 1268 Brando du Rouet KIRK WEBBY 20.000
7 945 Bijou de Balou KATHERINE DINAN 19.000
8 654 Zippo CG Juan Pablo Pivaral 18.100
RESULTS: Class 243, $10,000 OPEN JUMPER
1 1448 ACOLINA R AARON VALE 0 0 0 73.700
2 367 CALENO 3 GEORGINA BLOOMBERG 0 0 0 73.812
3 1347 Zephire HAYLEY BARNHILL 0 2 2 76.484
4 1819 HH BEST BUY MCLAIN WARD 4 0 4 73.469
5 603 CASSEVEL HUNTER HOLLOWAY 4 3 7 77.089
6 1399 MACARTHUR MICHAEL HUGHES 8 0 8 74.217
7 655 Cento Per Cento CG Juan Pablo Pivaral 8 0 8 74.864
8 1565 E.S. FINOU 4 AARON VALE 8 2 10 76.958
RESULTS: Class 265, $1500 SEVEN/EIGHT YEAR OLD YOUNG JUMPER
1 1011 UGOLIN DU MONT MELISSA RUDERSHAUSEN 0 69.431 0 34.246
2 272 RIO CACHET HAYLEY WATERS 0 2.480 0 35.075
3 949 ANGELINA 317 KATHERINE DINAN 0 70.742 0 36.504
4 1020 DIDAM DEVIN RYAN 0 0 0 70.891 4 32.629
5 948 DIBATSJA KATHERINE DINAN 0 1 1 74.673
6 1266 CONBALOU SETH VALLHONRAT 0 1 1 74.829
7 1137 ALI BABA B OLIVIA DOREY 4 0 4 68.796
8 1560 DIDO SARAH MIDDLETON 4 0 4 69.741
RESULTS: Class 261, $750 FIVE YEAR OLD YOUNG JUMPER
1 424 CATANIA SAFLO Z TAYLOR FLURY 0 0 0 67.634
2 426 DIAMANT D’HEURE ABF TAYLOR FLURY 0 0 0 72.414
3 425 COSMEA Z ALISON FLURY 0 0 0 73.115
4 423 CARRASCA Z TAYLOR FLURY 4 0 4 69.807
5 1015 LASINDER HPF DEVIN RYAN 8 0 8 71.773
6 1016 ROYAL SALUUT KELLY ARVIDSON 8 5 13 78.326
7 727 DIAMOND JUBILEE PETER LEONE 12 4 16 77.256
8 1006 FELIX ANDREW ROSS 20 0 20 71.508
RESULTS: Class 263, $750 SIX YEAR OLD YOUNG JUMPER
1 1570 JETT B TAYLOR FLURY 0 0 0 67.390 0 32.004
2 1401 Bovenau MICHAEL HUGHES 0 0 0 71.571 0 32.470
3 1130 ECAMORKA JAIME AULETTO 0 0 0 66.854 0 33.710
4 950 CHIARA MIA KATHERINE DINAN 0 0 0 67.755 0 34.497
5 30 CHICA 170 KEVIN BABINGTON 0 0 0 70.205 0 34.514
6 1022 EDDIE BLUE DEVIN RYAN 0 1 1 72.121
7 1471 EDORADO JAMES FAIRCLOUGH 0 3 3 74.227
8 1532 Chacco too KEVIN BABINGTON 4 0 4 71.543
Source: Press release
