SEPTEMBER 2019 THE RIDER /53
Cook Flies Home in the $100,000 1.45m FEI Grand Prix Presented by Horseflight at Split Rock Jumping Tour’s Sonoma International CSI2*
bested his time on the 8- year-old by nearly a full sec- ond. Eric Lawler and For Gold finished in third. “We’ve had him since
Karl Cook and Fecybelle flew to win the $100,000 1.45m FEI Grand Prix Presented by Horseflight. (c) Winslow Photography
Petaluma, CA - September 8, 2019 - Earlier in the week, Karl Cook won the CaptiveOne FEI Welcome class on Fecybelle, and mentioned that his goal was really to prepare for the big class on Sunday. His prepa- ration paid off in the culmi- nating class as he and the bay mare flew home, cutting corners in their turns, to take the top spot in the $100,000 1.45m FEI Grand Prix Pre- sented by Horseflight at Split Rock Jumping Tour’s Sonoma
International
CSI2* in Petaluma, CA. The class was the culmination of a week of show jumping competition at the Sonoma Horse Park. Cook was pleased with
his ride, even if it wasn’t ex- actly what he had planned. “When you win, you can say it went the way you wanted,” he said with a laugh. “But, in the jump-off I didn’t ride exactly the plan that we had set out; between two and three I added a stride and to the last fence I added another stride. “She’s still a new mare
and I’m still getting used to her a little bit,” he contin- ued. “In retrospect, I could have fit it in. Other than the two lines she was tight, she was fast, fences were on the angles and going, and I left out a stride to the second to last (fence). It’s still getting to know her, getting to know what I can do. With some horses, if I turn it up to that stride, then I have a rail. So, it’s kind of getting used to
some of that stuff with her.” Ten horses out of 51
starters over Alan Wade’s 13-jump course made it to the jump-off, with Cook and Fecybelle going third to last. The first horse in the ring in both rounds was Mr. Eu- rope, ridden by Karrie Rufer, who set the bar early with a clean round in a time of 36.680. Keri Potter and Ariell La Sirene came the closest in the early going, with a clean round in a time of 37.960, but when Cook flashed through the timers he had left all the rails up in a time of 36.370. The last few riders failed to leave all the rails up, giving Cook the victory with Rufer second and Potter third. “I knew the (first-
round) course was more of a test of how you can ride the right track for your horse, rather than something you needed a superstar horse for. You needed to ride accu- rately for what would help the way your horse is and I think you saw that with peo- ple where they came with too much canter or too little canter and they paid the price,” Cook said. “The time allowed wasn’t super tight so you didn’t have to take chances there, so I thought there was absolutely a pos- sibility (of a big jump-off). I just try to focus on what I have to do. “I mean, you always
hope for a smaller jump-off, so you feel confident you can do well,” he continued with a laugh. “But, it’s al-
ways more fun when you get a competition where you have to go. Even if you have a lower chance of winning, it’s fun. We get excited to show, you want to feel like you’ve earned it.” Cook has only had Fe-
cybelle since April, but she’s already proving herself a strong addition to his stable. He says the trick now is to continue to take his time to solidify their partnership. “She will come with us
to all the shows we’re going to on the west coast. I don’t think we’ll do the World Cup qualifier classes, but we’ll do the Friday classes until we get to know her,” he said. “I need to learn her, she needs to learn me and we need to figure things out together. She’s been doing super and consistent and that’s great, but at the same time you can’t get greedy. Like, ‘she’s doing great, let’s keep going up,’ until the wheels start falling off the wagon. You have to take a step back and make sure you don’t get greedy.” Earlier in the day, Nick
Dello Joio put his week as a bridesmaid with Catemaco LS behind him with a deci- sive win in the $5,000 Animo Youngster Bowl, for 7-and 8-year-old horses. The 7-year-olds jumped 1.30m, while the 8-year- olds jumped 1.40m. Eric Navet of France
aboard the 7-year-old Crème De Lu held off four others in the jump-off, be- fore Dello Joio, going last,
the beginning of his 7-year- old year; he’s great, he’s quirky and a heck of a jumper, but he’s green for his age,” Dello Joio said. “He’s had a couple of unfor- tunate setbacks-he did a split on the hotwalker with his front legs, which is like a one in a million-so we did- n’t get to show him much in Florida and then he was amazing at Spruce Mead- ows, he went right out there with no real experience and jumped the youngster tour there, which was big and de- manding and he came out a way more mature horse. He’s fresh and he’s had great mileage here this week. I’m thrilled with him.”
Catamaco LS has been
second twice this week in other classes, and Dello Joio finished second with an- other mount in another class, so he was thrilled to finally be on top. “I thought he was the best today,” he said. “He can be a bit of a tense horse and I thought today he was actually the most relaxed. Yesterday he should have won and then we had the last jump down with the fastest time in the jump-off. It was my mis- take, but today he was just a little more settled.” Also concluding in
ring 1 Sunday morning was the $7,500 Horseflight 1.40m Junior/Amateur final, which saw Maggie Kehring and Cole Haan taking the top spot over Katelyn Denby Edwards on Cetello and Laura Hite riding Solos Concept. There were five horses in the jump-off with no clean rounds, but Kehring’s time of 37.990 was two seconds faster than Edwards’. The day kicked off in
ring 2 with Susan Artes and Mr. Sanchez taking the top prize in the $2,500 Dalman 1.25m Mini Prix over Tiffany Martin and Clio 35 and Ashlin Bowen and Cin City BA. Now in its fifth year,
the SRJT is renowned for revolutionizing the sport of show jumping in the U.S. and creating an “Unparal- leled Show Jumping Expe- rience.” The SRJT gives competitors, sponsors and spectators an “Unparalleled Show Jumping Experience” by hosting competitions with world-class venues, top prize money, extravagant awards, special entry pack- ages, and numerous first- class amenities for riders, horses, owners, sponsors, and spectators, with close attention paid to every de- tail. The SRJT is presenting six FEI shows at five world- class venues as part of its 2019 Tour.
About the 2019 Split Rock Jumping Tour The 2019 Split Rock
Jumping Tour features six FEI shows at five world- class venues including the Kentucky Horse Park and Split Rock Farm in Lexing- ton, Kentucky; Sonoma Horse Park in Sonoma, Cal- ifornia; Brave Horse Show Park in Columbus, Ohio; and HIPICO Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Its culminating event, the Longines FEI World Cup Qualifier Jumping Colum- bus CSI3*-W Presented by CaptiveOne, is one of just 14 events in the Longines FEI World Cup™ North American League that will help determine which North American riders will qualify to go to the 2020 Longines FEI World Cup™ Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada next April. April 26-27 | Kentucky Invi- tational CSI3* - Kentucky Horse Park (during Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event), Lexington, KY May 22-26 | Lexington In- ternational CSI2* - Split Rock Farm, Lexington, KY August 14-18 | Santa Fe In- ternational CSI2* -HIPICO Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico September 4-8 | Sonoma In- ternational CSI2* - Sonoma Horse Park, Petaluma, CA September 25-29 | Colum- bus International CSI2* - Brave Horse Show Park, Johnstown, OH
October 2-6 | Longines FEI World Cup Qualifier Jump- ing Columbus CSI3*-W Presented by CaptiveOne - Brave Horse Show Park, Johnstown, OH Additional information
on the Split Rock Jumping Tour (SRJT) is available on- line at the Split Rock Jump- ing Tour website at www.SplitRockJumping-
Tour.com or by calling 859- 252-3247.
Karl Cook celebrated his victory with Karrie Rufer (2nd) and Keri Potter (3rd). (c) Winslow Photography
Karl Cook and Fecybelle, winners of the $100,000 1.45m FEI Grand Prix Presented by Horseflight. (c) Winslow Photography
Susan Artes and Mr. Sanchez took the top prize in the $2,500 Dalman 1.25m Mini Prix. (c) Winslow Photography
Nick Dello Joio and Catemaco LS came out on top in the $5,000 Animo Youngster Bowl. (c) Winslow Photography
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