Thunderbird Show Park, Langley, British Columbia, Canada – June 2, 2018 – Claire Mckean (USA) began her day lined up against a large field of 64 in the $35,500 CSI 2* Jump for Uryadi’s Grand Prix Saturday at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, BC. She ended it with her first international victory. Two-star competition ran concurrently with CSIO 5* show jumping, highlighted by the $400,000 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ of Canada, at the 2018 Odlum Brown BC Open.

Last to go in a 19-horse jump-off, Mckean, 20, rode Eregast van’t Kiezelhof to the fastest time of the afternoon, stopping the clock in 38.90 seconds. John Perez (COL) and Extra Minkus, who held onto the lead for 15 riders after jumping third in the jump-off order, finished second on their time of 39.02 seconds. Sofía Larrea Burrllo (MEX) and Gigolo finished third with a time of 39.16 seconds.

“I wasn’t expecting to win in a 19-horse jump-off, as my horse is one particularly on the slow side,” Mckean said, “but I decided to give it all I got today, and it worked out.”

Mckean and her 14-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding did not drop a rail all week at tbird, but time faults had, up until Saturday, kept them from a top placing. Heading into the grand prix, Mckean was determined to change that.

“Today one of the biggest things going into the course was staying within the time allowed,” she said. “He has such a big stride, and sometimes getting all the right strides in the lines is hard, so it makes me have to go slower everywhere else. So everywhere I had the chance, I made sure to gallop away.”

Her tight turn back to the third fence in the jump-off, an oxer with a natural liverpool, and doing eight strides to the final oxer sealed the win.

“In the jump-off, I decided to just go for it. I let his stride work for me, and rolling back to the oxer, I did way fewer strides than everyone else,” she explained.

“I trusted my horse’s scope. I tried my best at it, and he produced immensely, and he was so good to me. Everywhere else, too – he just jumped amazing today.”

Full Results here.