Mill Spring, North Carolina, USA – July 03, 2021 – In their first class under the lights and on the eve of America’s Independence Day holiday, Kayla Savard (USA) and Bogota Nantuel broke a tie by nearly three seconds to win the $73,000 Cleghorn Golf & Sports Club Grand Prix CSI 2* at Tryon International Equestrian Center & Resort (TIEC), with a time of 36.653 seconds.
Forty-one horse and rider combinations challenged the course designed by Andy Christiansen (ECU), with 13 pairs returning for the second round jump-off. Savard (USA) and her 2011 Selle Francais mare (Dollar Dela Pierre x Carnute) conquered the shortened course, going in with a third place standing and jumping to a first place win.
Savard praised her rookie mare for her efforts during the evening, sharing, “This is her first FEI class, and both of our first class under the lights! She’s awesome. She’s naturally so fast, so that’s how I was able to be so much faster. She just lands and goes!”
Despite being new to competing under the lights, the pair managed to pull out a win in the jump-off, finishing far ahead of the second place winners. The pair sped around the jumps starting from the second they walked into the ring. “My coach, Alberto Michan, gave me instructions to go from [jump] one to two as quickly as I could, so I did that, then the rest I just went tidy,” Savard shared. “I think jump one to two was the spot to win that people were missing.”
The second-place tie was captured by two riders with a jump-off time of 39.02 seconds. Richie Moloney (IRL) and Coco Beach, a 2012 Holsteiner mare (Casall x Miss Marpel) owned by Equinimity LLC.
Victoria Heurtematte (PAN) matched Richie’s time aboard her own Flying Dutchman, the 2010 Dutch Warmblood stallion (Quasimodo Van De Molendreef x Burggraff).
This is Savard’s last week of competition at TIEC this summer and she will be leaving on a high note: a Grand Prix victory. “I’ve been here at Tryon for the last five weeks and we leave tomorrow to give the horses a little break. This was a great way to end the circuit! I love it here, it’s my favorite show in the states, for sure.”
Savard will be departing TIEC to return to Florida where she will watch from afar as her coach competes in the Tokyo Olympics. After the pair’s success during their first FEI competition, they hope to return to TIEC later in the year to continue their winning streak.
Final Results – $73,000 Cleghorn Golf & Sports Club Grand Prix CSI 2*
1) Kayla Savard (USA) & Bogota Nantuel – 0 / 0 – 36.65
2) Richie Moloney (IRL) & Coco Beach – 0 / 0 – 39.02
2) Victoria Heurtematte (PAN) & Flying Dutchman – 0 / 0 – 39.02
Source: Press Release by Allie Hay and Emily Carpenter for TIEC – Tryon International Equestrian Center
Photos: © Sportfot
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Categories: CSI 2*, English, Jumper News USA
