CSI 4*

Amanda Derbyshire & Otto BH Thrive in the $112,500 ProElite Welcome Stake CSI 4*

Mill Spring, North Carolina, USA โ€“ October 13, 2023 โ€“ In a thrilling evening class under the lights of Tryon Stadium, Amanda Derbyshire (GBR) and Otto BH (Norton Dโ€™eole x Toulon) were crowned the winners of the CHF $112โ€™500 ProElite Welcome Stake CSI 4* in a jump off time of 41.17 seconds.

Peter Grant (CAN) designed a course to test eighty-five entries in the first round, catching out all but eight pairs who qualified for the jump off test. Derbyshire and her own 2012 Zangersheide stallion proved to be the fastest, winning the class by only .01 seconds. 

Conor Swail (IRL) & Vital Chance

Just a breath behind to take reserve was Conor Swail (IRL) and Vital Chance (Diamant De Semilly x Rivage Du Poncel), the 2009 Selle Franรงais gelding owned by Mannon Farm, recording a time of 41.18 seconds.

Shane Sweetnam (IRL) & James Kann Cruz

Rounding out the Welcome Stake podium with a time of 41.46 seconds was Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and James Kann Cruz (Kannan x Cruising), the 2013 Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Gizmo Partners, LLC.

โ€œIt was a long class,โ€ Derbyshire admitted. โ€œThe time was extremely tight. That’s why there were not many clears, and it was a technical course. He’s a very careful horse, and I stuck to the plan going in. I was just within the time, but he jumped to a beautiful first round.โ€ 

Derbyshire shared that her strategy in the jump off was to โ€œjust go as fast as I could! There was obviously one less stride to the last fence, and even though we kind of took it in the wrong direction, heโ€™s got a really big stride and heโ€™s pretty strong. I knew at the end of the course I would just go with him and leave out that last stride to the last oxer.โ€

โ€œWith Conor and Shane in the jump off, theyโ€™re always hard to beat,โ€ Derbyshire said of her competitors. โ€œThe boys beat me earlier in the day in the two-star, so I was trying to not let that happen again!

โ€œIโ€™m grateful for a good day. Any day like this, you’re always happy for in this sport. It was a great win and Iโ€™m grateful for the team,โ€ she recapped.

Amanda Derbyshire (GBR) & Otto BH in their presentation ceremony alongside Major League Show Jumpingโ€™s Keean White and Sharon Decker, Tryon Equestrian Partners Carolina Operations President.

Final Results โ€“ CHF $112โ€™500 ProElite Welcome Stake CSI 4*

1) Amanda Derbyshire (GBR) & Otto BH โ€“ 0 / 0 โ€“ 41.17

2) Conor Swail (IRL) & Vital Chance de La Roque โ€“ 0 / 0 โ€“ 41.18

3) Shane Sweetnam (IRL) & James Kann Cruz โ€“ 0 / 0 โ€“ 41.46

Press Release by Rette Solomon for Tryon Internationalย 

Photos: ยฉ TIEC / Natalie Suto & Avery Fletcher for Natalie Suto Photography



Discover more from JUMPER NEWS

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.