The FEI CSI 3*-W week at National Sunshine II continued last Friday with the $40,200 Desert Classic CSI 3* at the Grand Prix Stadium in the AON Hits Desert Park in Thermal, California, USA.

Many riders who had competed in the FEI-class the previous day would go on to competed in Saturday’s $100,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Qualifier, including Nayel Nassar (EGY), John Pearce, Kevin Babington (IRL) and Ashlee Bond (ISR).

Taking home the blue ribbon on Friday, with the only clear rounds, was Kristen Vanderveen (USA) aboard Bull Run’s Faustino de Tili, (Berlin x Darco), known as “Frosty”, timed in 66.12 seconds.

“Frosty is my trusty steed. We have been long-time partners and he is my go to horse,” said Vanderveen. “It was really fun to ride him in a class when he has had an easy week. He is just jumping the ranking classes and I’m letting one of my younger horses jump the main class.”

Vanderveen, representing the United States, took home a customized winner’s cooler, trophy, and Professional’s Choice saddle pad for her win in the $40,200 Desert Classic FEI CSI 3*-W.

She would rise to victory going through a course that involved some technicalities and a tight time allowed. “The time allowed was challenging which worked well for my horse since he’s known for how fast he is. That worked to our advantage.”

“What I liked about the course today is that you saw something everywhere. I thought height-wise, it was big enough before tomorrow’s class and we got our feet wet,” said Vanderveen. “The triple looked to be challenging for some horses, but for Frosty, who’s done World Cup Finals, he’s scopey and that worked out nicely for us.”

Second only to Vanderveen, it was Eve Jobs (USA) and Limbridge (Limbus x Cambridge), crossing the timers with just one time penalty due to their 70.98 seconds. Vanessa Mannix (CAN) and Valentino d’Elte (Gastronom Z*de Hus) x Windsor) also had one time penalty, enough for third place.

Ashlee Bond (ISR) ended up with the fastest time among those who had four penalty-points, taking fourth aboard Ereina (Namelus R x Solitair) in 63.55 seconds. Following Bond in fifth place, it was Lindsay Archer (USA) and Jarpur (Ogano Sitte x Warkant van’t Gestelhof) with a score of 4 and a time of 64.16 seconds.

Mathis Schwentker (GER) and NKH Caruso (Cash and Carry x Starlight) rounded out the top six in the class, with four penalty-points in 65.80 seconds.