The $25,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic was held on Saturday afternoon with 13 entries and a six-horse jump-off that yielded four double clear rounds. Canada's Eric Lamaze qualified two horses for the jump-off and was first to go over the short course with Artisan Farms LLC's Quelmec du Gery. The pair had the fastest jump-off time of 30.398 seconds, but finished the course with eight faults to earn sixth place honors. Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Oakland Ventures LLC's New Look de Mescam posted the first clear round in 33.233 seconds to eventually earn the third place prize.
Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and Spy Coast Farm LLC's Diktator van de Boslandhoeve jumped next and had a rail down at the final fence with a time of 34.583 seconds to place fifth. Gemma Paternoster (GBR) had a clear round in 44.314 seconds aboard her own and Julia Harrison Lee's Osiris to place fourth. Up next, Lauren Hough (USA) and Karina Rotenberg's Böckmanns Lazio cleared the course in 31.643 seconds to take the lead. Eric Lamaze was last to go with his second mount, Artisan Farms LLC's Zigali P S, but finished just shy of the time to beat in 31.654 seconds to earn the second place prize.
Böckmanns Lazio is a 14-year-old Westphalian stallion by Lancer II x Cor de la Bryere. Lauren Hough just started riding the horse this fall and explained that he has experience showing under several international riders, most recently Cassio Rivetti of Ukraine and Gilles de Baranda of France. Her first show with the stallion was in the beginning of October at the Horse of the Year show in Birmingham, England. Then he flew to America, was in quarantine, and then jumped in Equestrian Sport Productions' New Year's Grand Prix with an unlucky rail.Yesterday they had one time faults in the $25,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1 as the first to go.
"He has had a lot of mileage, and I am lucky enough to have the ride now," Hough stated after her win. "He does everything so easy, and he is a super competitive horse. He is obviously a beautiful horse. He is a perfect model."
"He is very laid back at home; you can hardly make him go," Hough described. "He doesn't act much like a stallion. Then he is quite aggressive in the ring. He says, 'Okay, it's my job,' and he really takes you to the jump in a nice way and he just suits me perfectly. I am very grateful to the owners for allowing me to ride him."
Hough went in the jump-off knowing that she had the always fast Eric Lamaze still to follow, but managed to keep the winning edge. "I knew he was quite fast with his first horse," she noted. "I think I did one too many strides to the second to last jump because I was going to do one less to the last. I thought I left the door open a little bit, but I think that is also a new mount to him. I think I just got lucky. Even though there were only 13 in the class, it was quite competitive and I was happy to be a part of it."
Source: Equestrian Sport Productions
Final Results: $25,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic
1. BÖCKMANNS LAZIO LAUREN HOUGH KARINA ROTENBERG: 0/0/31.643
2. ZIGALI P S ERIC LAMAZE ARTISAN FARMS LLC: 0/0/31.654
3. NEW LOOK DE MESCAM DARRAGH KENNY OAKLAND VENTURES LLC: 0/0/33.233
4. OSIRIS GEMMA PATERNOSTER GEMMA PATERNOSTER & JULIA HARRISON LEE: 0/0/44.314
5. DIKTATOR VAN DE BOSLANDHOEVE SHANE SWEETNAM SPY COAST FARM LLC: 0/4/34.583
6. QUELMEC DU GERY ERIC LAMAZE ARTISAN FARMS LLC: 0/8/30.398
7. CONTINO 14 JONATHON MILLAR MILLAR BROOKE FARM: 4/77.361
8. UNEX OMEGA STAR TIM GREDLEY UNEX COMPETITION YARD: 4/78.184
9. AD AMIGO B ALVARO DE MIRANDA VICTORY EQUESTRIAN & ALVERO DE MIRANDA: 8/75.331
10. FEROX B LORENZO DE LUCA MIKE COLLINS: 8/76.703
11. ROSANA DU PARK CARLY ANTHONY ARTISAN FARMS LLC: 8/79.171
12. AZIBANTOS GEOFFREY CASE GROUP C LLC: 12/81.066