Wellington, Florida, USA – October 26, 2020 – The final Hunter and Jumper competition to be hosted at Equestrian Village wrapped up this past weekend with the ESP Fall III show. The ESP Fall Series continues this week at the main grounds of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) with the ESP Fall Finale from Thursday, October 29 through Sunday, November 1.
Sunday’s feature class challenged a total of 16 combinations, with seven returning for the jump-off course, designed by Hector Loyola.
Sharn Wordley (NZL) and his own Gatsby were uncatchable in Sunday’s $25,000 Equine Tack and Nutritionals Grand Prix after clearing the jump-off course in 41.219 seconds. Wordley also took home reserve with his own Esmee with a jump-off time of 42.048 seconds. Wordley explained that he had two different plans going into the first round of the Grand Prix.
“In the first round, there was an option to the combination; you either did the short eight or a flat seven. On Gatsby, I did the seven because that’s what he prefers. The mare (Esmee) likes to add a stride going to combinations because she likes to sort of study it, so I did the slow eight with her. The time allowed was also quite short, but she’s so fast that naturally, she made up for the time.”
Santiago Lambre (MEX) piloted his Mick Jagger through the jump-off in 42.226 seconds to earn a close third.
Once both horses had earned a spot in the jump-off Wordley determined the best way to take the win. “In the jump-off, I was trying to time it so that I could be first and second. Since Gatsby was very quick in the jump-off, I wanted to be about a half-second slower on Esmee.” Wordley continued to explain that things didn’t exactly go to plan, “I was a little nervous because one of the jumps didn’t quite come up the way I wanted, so I had to add an extra stride. I was nearly a second slower and I was only trying to be half a second slower.”
For full results, please click here.
Source: Press release from ESP – Equestrian Sports Productions
Photos: © Anne Gittins Photography
Categories: CSN, English, Jumper News Oceania
