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Karl Cook & Fecybelle Fly to First in $100,000 Voltaire Grand Prix at Thermal

Thermal, California, USA. โ€“ December 13, 2020 โ€“ย Karl Cook (USA) and Fecybelle were the stars at the end of the second week of the Desert Holiday Series at the Desert International Horse Park. The duo captured first-place honors in the feature class of the week, Sundayโ€™s $100,000 Voltaire Grand Prix.

Forty-five pairs challenged the course, designed by Anderson Lima (BRA), with only ten riding clear and returning for the jump-off.ย Four combinations duplicated their clear round in the tiebreaker. Cook and Signe Ostbyโ€™s ten-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Carambole x Becybelle) registered an unbeatable jump-off time of 39.604 seconds, the fastest time among all the finalists.

What a view! Fecybelle flying with style at the Desert International Horse Park

The duo have been paired together since mid-2019: โ€œWe got her in the middle of the year last year and she is such a gamer. She knows her job and she loves doing it. It makes it easy for me because she gets excited and is like โ€˜oh itโ€™s time to go,โ€™โ€ shared Cook. โ€œShe is such a competitive horse. Some horses, on their own, donโ€™t run. I rode her great today. I feel so happy with my ride.โ€

Ashlee Bond (ISR) and Little Valley Farmsโ€™ Donatello 141 (Diarado x Luna) earned reserve honors for their time of 40.329 seconds.

Kaitlin Campbell (USA) and Palina de Lโ€™Escaut (Perigueux x Gallina), owned by Spy Coast Farm, LLC, stopped the timers at 43.938 seconds to finish off the podium in third.ย 

Karl Cook (USA) & Fecybelle during the awards ceremony

Winner’s Circle – Karl Cook (USA)

โ€œThe plan [for the course] was fluid [โ€ฆ] She turns really well and she is super on technical courses. When I have to gallop, at least in the past, she has gotten a bit flat over the fence. The course today, I didnโ€™t think was suited to her because it was all off the forward gallop,โ€ reflected Cook. โ€œWhat ended up happening was the faster I went, the higher she went. So I could just keep going faster. The more she went up, the faster I could go. I kind of just kept accelerating through the course based on how she was feeling.โ€

Source: Press release from Desert International Horse Park

Photos: ยฉ ESI Photography



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