Karl Cook & Candy Earn Sweet Victory in the Circle B Ranch Speed Stake CSI 5*

By Jumper News on 2026-01-22

Thermal, United States – January 21, 2026 – Karl Cook (USA) and Candy kicked off their 2026 season with a win in the $32,000 Circle B Ranch Speed Stake CSI 5* – 1.45m held on Wednesday, January 21, during Desert Circuit 3 at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, California.

The win marked the first FEI victory for the 11-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare that Cook has been partnered with and getting to know for the past two years. However, the duo looked every bit a seasoned, winning partnership as they blazed across the finish in 61.66 seconds.

Finishing in second place on 63.05 seconds were Canada’s Tiffany Foster (CAN) and Anton, owned by 5 Roosters, and Mathijs van Asten (NED) of the Netherlands took home third in 70.30 seconds aboard Vedet DK Z, owned by Vani Khosla.

“She felt great; it was a good course for her,” said Cook (USA). “We left out a few strides, and we could go that speed without having to run too hard – just doing really good, quick work. It was nice and educational.”

Much of Cook and Candy’s partnership thus far has been focused on that education – both for Candy and for Cook in determining what best suits the mare.

“It took some time to get to know her, but she traveled with Caracole [de la Roque] all year throughout Europe and really kind of grew in that experience,” said Cook of the horse owned by Signe Ostby. “Last year, she came up leaps and bounds, and starting off this year like this is just a progression from last year. It’s great that we didn’t lose anything after last year.”

Cook continued, “In the past, the unpredictability made [Candy] challenging. It felt like one show was one way, the next show another. It was just trying to get her more predictable in whatever way, because then you can make incremental gains when you’re coming from something predictable.”

With Candy feeling continuously more predictable, Cook will next point her toward Friday’s $32,000 Cavalor Classic CSI 5* – 1.45m, and he also has his sights set on Saturday’s $340,000 BrainJuice Grand Prix CSI 5* with Caracole de la Roque.