Menezes Soars on Le Fleur

By Whitney Campbell June 10, 2013

Eduardo Menezes and Le Fleur 4 were the first to enter the arena at the $30,000 June Classic I Grand Prix on June 9, and also wound up first in the victory lap!

The Brazilian rider and the eight-year-old dappled grey jumped beautifully around Linda Allen’s first round course, making perfection the benchmark for all who followed.

Problems ensued for riders who tried to match his perfect score, including Menezes on another grey mare, Caruschka. But second-in Saree Solanki on Tomboy Farms’ Olympiade Des Gres were the first casualties – leaving the rails up but felled by the tight time allowed, notching four time faults.

Fifth and sixth to go, veterans Rusty Stewart on Grey Fox Farm’s Bristol and Josephina Nor-Lantzman aboard her own talented Chello Z had no rails but were caught by the clock, ending with one- and three time faults, respectively.

Northern California resident Nicole Bloom on Think Big Van TL (Rhys Farms, LLC, owner) galloped in thirteenth and stopped the clock just .003 seconds faster than Nor-Lantzman for another score resulting in three time faults. Second to last to go, Paige Dotson on her own Rockford I, had a lucky rub at fence 5, stayed within the time and went clean. The final pair, New Zealand’s Guy Thomas and Peterbilt, had four faults, ceding the jump-off to Menezes and Dotson.

Menezes and the graceful Fleur galloped around the second-round course fault-free, meaning Dotson had to be both clean and fast. After having a rail, the young rider pulled up, pleased to be second to the seasoned Menezes.

After having won a grand prix on his experienced thirteen-year-old mount Calavda in May, Menezes was equally pleased with his young horse. “This was actually her first grand prix. She is only eight years old but she has a big future ahead of her.”

Dotson also praised her trusty steed. “Honestly I was really nervous, most of the riders in the class have a lot of grand prix miles. My trainer (Keri Potter) has jumped clean on him many times so I knew that he could do it and would take care of me. I just had to make sure I stayed within the time allowed!”

On yet another sunny day in Southern California, it was a small but serious group that contested the grand prix, sponsored by St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort. Earlier in the afternoon, Hannah Heidegger dominated the final qualifier for the 2013 North American Junior & Young Rider Championships and young professional Nick Haness continued his prowess in the CashCall Mortgage Futurity series.

Allen attempted to set a track that fit the mix of experience among the entries. “It is a balancing act because the standard is set and the specifications are in the prize list. Taking into account that there are some less experienced horses, I tried to find a happy medium that meets the standards and isn’t too difficult.”

Today the time allowed of 96 seconds was the nemesis of four riders, while four had one rail and only two jumped fault-free. The second vertical element of the two-stride came down six times and the open water caused faults several times as well as two refusals.

$30,000 June Classic I Grand Prix,
sponsored by St. Regis Monarch Beach
Place – Horse – Rider – Owner – Faults/Time
1 – La Fleur 4 – Eduardo Menezes – Eduardo Menezes – 0/0/34.292
2 – Rockford I – Paige Dotson – The Dotson Family – 0/92.147
3 – Bristol – Rusty Stewart – Grey Fox Farm – 1/96.486
4 – Think Big Van TL – Nicole Bloom – Rhys Farms LLC – 3/98.490
5 – Chello Z – Josephina Nor-Lantzman – Josephina Nor Stables – 3/98.493
6 – Peterbilt – Guy Thomas – Peterbilt LLC – 4/88.843
7 – Semira De Saulieu – Lane Clarke – Charlotte Gadbois – 4/92.405
8 – Saffier – Humberto Quirarte – Humberto Quirarte – 4/92.564
9 – Caruschka – Eduardo Menezes – Eduardo Menezes – 4/93.734
10 – Olympiade Des Gres – Saree Solanki – Tomboy Farms – 4/99.472
11 – Lucas – Peter Breakwell – No Drama – 5/96.526
12 – Acorina – Will Simpson – Monarch International – 8/88.935

 

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