Porter Pilots to CSI-W Win

By Staff Report October 7, 2013

Mandy Porter and Con Capilot were the only double clear in a field of 35 horse and rider combinations at the $54,500 Land Rover Sacramento International Grand Prix CSI-W 1.60m. The Oct. 5 event was the high-performance pinnacle of the Sacramento International Horse Show World Cup Week, Oct. 1-6 at the Murieta Equestrian Center.

Heiko Wahler of Germany designed a challenging and highly technical course that asked some tough questions of both rider and mount. Out of the 34 entries, six returned for the jump off, with Porter and Plum Creek Hollow’s Con Capilot the only pair to nail a second perfect round, in 42.51 seconds. The class was a qualifier for the 2014 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final, April 17-21 in Lyon, France, and for the 2014 AIG  $1 Million Grand Prix, March 16 in Thermal, CA.

“It was awesome!,” Porter said the following day. “He’s really coming into his own,” she added of the 10-year-old Westphalian stallion she’s been riding for the past three years. “We’ve sort of gone bit by bit with him, but he’s shown some really good progress, especially at the end of this year, and he showed me a lot last night, so I think the World Cup is definitely in our sights.”

Second-placed Will Simpson (USA) was nearly three seconds faster (39.39) but had a rail, riding Monarch International’s Warrant. Third-placed Enrique Gonzales (MEX), riding his own Quilebo du Tillard also had  four-faults, on a time of 40.82.

Nineteen-year-old Bretton Chad (CAN), who trains with the Lakeview Terrace, CA-based Meadow Grove Stables (Dick and Francie Carvin) was third, with eight faults, on her own Santa Catarina.

Alec Lawler of Stanford, CA, finished fourth, although he and his Swedish Warmblood gelding Agamemnon encountered some trouble – including a few rails and some time faults – racking up 34 faults in the process.

It was what one observer described as an “interesting” jump-off, with Misti Cassar, the first in, taking a nasty fall from Poeme d’ Amour and requiring hospital transport, causing a bit of an interruption.

Indeed, the entire class was a lesson in suspense, with superstars like Los Angeles’ Ashlee Bond and Stanford-based Nayel Nassar (EGY) finishing ninth and tenth, respectively, and top-performers including Karl Cook (Woodside, CA),  Duncan McFarlane (Castro Valley, CA) and Lane Clarke (Laguna Niguel, CA) out of the money entirely.

“I was in a nice position in the jump-off because I was second-to last, and there were no double clears at that point, and only one rider after me” [Chad]. So I was going carefully,” Porter explained. “I knew I had left the door open for Bretton to go faster, but it was important to me to give Pilot a solid ride to continue building his confidence, so while I made some turns, I wouldn’t say I went all-out.”

For his part, Simpson – the only Olympic gold medalist in the bunch – said his rail was the result of a miscalculation as he gets to know a new horse. “This was really our first show together,” he said of the promising 10-year-old KWPN stallion (by Numero Uno). “I rode him in a 1.30m class in Europe this summer when I went over to try him, then this.”

Things started well. “The horse was jumping brilliantly, but there was a sharp turn to a big oxer, and I was too deep. I was being conservative, figuring, ‘I don’t know the horse that well, I’d better go wide, but because he has a humongous stride, adding one makes a major difference.” With the angle of approach off, Simpson attempted to scissor the horse in mid-air, but it didn’t work and both the front and rear rails fell. “I just needed to know the horse better, and now I know. He jumped fine after that.”

Simpson said he and Warrant plan to tackle the World Cup Qualifiers at the HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal, CA, this winter. He certainly had a strong showing in Sacramento, claiming victory in Friday’s $2,500 Land Rover Ride & Drive on Acorina, also owned by Monarch. And his 15-year-old student Hannah von Heidegger had just a single rail with Geledimar in Thursday’s 1.50m Welcome Grand Prix.

“It’s been a great show,” said West Palms Events’ Dale Harvey, who produces the Sacramento International in conjunction with Leone Equestrians Inc.’s Rudy Leone. The duo earned kudos from the riders for a show that had something for everyone – from high-performance hunters and jumpers to a wide variety of classes for children, juniors and amateurs. There was a “Battle of the Sexes,” with two teams of four going head-to-head riding western horses on “a quasi trail and speed-off school course” (the gals won!), and a championship series for 4- to 7-year-old horses that some say gave the show a “European flair.”

“I think it had a Sacramento flair,” Harvey deadpanned. Land Rover, a title sponsor now in its third year, was so pleased it has already announced its intention to return for year four. Samantha Buir won the $4,000 4-Year-Old Championship Final with Fairway Farms’ Cambur Z and  Mandy Porterscored another victory in the $4,000 5-Year-Old Championship Final on Enrique Gonzales’ Detroit 32.

Porter and Gonzales share a homebase at Rocky Mountain Warmbloods in Encinitas. “These wins are all a team effort,” Porter emphasized. “It’s about a lot more than me and the horse,” she said, giving a shout-out to Gonzeles, her right-hand man Craig Starr, Con Capilot’s groom Belsa, Plum Creek owner Nancy Gooding and her sponsors Purina, Equifit, Devoucoux.

Tatiana Dzavik topped the 6-Year-Old field with Ilan Ferder’s Cascada (who also won Best Young Horse), while Rachel Fields steered RHF Group’s Cyrano Z to victory among the 7-Year-Old set. On Sunday, Andrew Ramsay rode Shalanno Farms’ Woitcek to the blue ribbon in the $25,000 iJump Sports 1.40m Open Jumper Stake.

$54,500 Land Rover Grand Prix class results below. For complete Sacramento International World Cup Week results, click here.

$54,500 Land Rover Grand Prix of Sacramento 1.6m (34 entries)

1.  Con Capilot (Plum Creek Hollow Farm) Mandy Porter 0/0/42.51
2.  Warrant (Monarch International) William Simpson 0/4/39.39
3. Quilebo du Tillard ( Enrique Gonzalez) Enrique Gonzalez 0/4/40.82
4. Santa Catarina LS La Silla (Stone Ridge Farms) Bretton Chad 0/8/53.31
5. Agamemnon (Alec Lawler) Alec Lawler 0/34/75.02
6. Poeme D’ Amour (Misti Cassar) Misti Cassar 0/eliminated
7. Springtime (Copernicus Stables) Saer Coulter
8. Calero (Neaulani Farms) Allyssa Hecht
9. Chela LS (Little Valley Farms) Ashlee Bond
10. Lordan (Nayel Nassar) Nayel Nassar
11. Axl Rose (Paris Sellon) Paris Sellon
12. Dauphin De Muze ( Alec Lawler) Alec Lawler

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