Zoe Brown & “Bling” are the Best in the $30,000 FarmVet Open Classic

By Jumper News on 2024-11-01

Thermal, California, USA – October 31, 2024 – Zoe Brown (AUS) first started coming to what is now the Desert International Horse Park (DIHP) as a small child cheering on her horse trainer parents. Now, at 19 years old, Brown is the one being cheered on in the Grand Prix Arena as she wins against the best at the Thermal, CA, venue.

On Thursday, October 31, at National Sunshine Series I, Brown and Bling VD Duvelshoeve Z bested a field of 57 entries to take home the first $30,000 FarmVet 1.45m Open Classic win of the 2024-2025 DIHP season.

**Zoe Brown** (AUS) & **Bling VD Duvelshoeve Z**

On their way to the victory, Brown and “Bling” were one of 14 entries to navigate the first-round, Anderson Lima-(BRA) designed course without fault. From there, Brown returned in the middle of the pack for the jump-off and quickly shot straight to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 35.577 seconds.

Coming the closest to catching Brown, and taking home second place, were Nicolas Gamboa (COL) and NKH Vittorio S with a time of 35.621 seconds. Third place with a time of 36.033 seconds went to Shawn Casady (USA) and Cool Quarz.

“It’s really amazing to kick off the season with a win; it’s a little confidence booster,” said Brown, who trains with, and works alongside, her mother, Olivia Dawson-Grove, at Dawson Grove Farm. “But Bling is naturally just such a fast horse and such a winner that I can always trust her to be amazing, jump clear and do the job.”

Brown continued, “I actually went in [the jump-off] and was hoping to just jump a nice, double-clear round for maybe fifth [place]. Then, I got a little excited as I was heading for the first fence and decided to give it a little go. Bling’s naturally so fast that she really took over and also wanted the win just as bad as I did.”

Brown first began riding the now 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare, owned by Rooster Run Foundation, when Bling was 9. Then, Dawson-Grove briefly took over the ride before relinquishing the gray mare back to Brown.

“[My mom] very nicely gave her back to me; so, I’ve been riding her for about a year,” said Brown. “My plan for the rest of the season with Bling is to jump her in the national grand prix, maybe I’ll do a couple of 2* with her, but she’s really good at this height. She loves to win!”

The Desert International Horse Park will offer many such national grand prix classes throughout the new season, beginning this Saturday, November 2, with the $100,000 IDA Development & Barnwalkers Grand Prix. For a full list of highlights offered during the National Sunshine Series 1, presented by IDA Development & Barnwalkers and continuing through Sunday, November 3 – click here.