We reckon a weekend in New York would be a highlight at the best of times, but imagine going to a weekend that involved the Rolex Central Park Horse Show! And it gets even better, with New Zealander Sharn Wordley finishing second in the Grand Prix, and a demonstration by Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro.
We don’t know if any New Zealanders managed to get to the event, so we will just have to enjoy it through reading about it, and drooling over the photos which have been supplied thanks to Land Rover, the official vehicle for this iconic equestrian event.
Under the bright lights of the New York skyline, spectators saw some of the very best competitors in equestrian sport coming together to perform in Central Park’s Wollman Rink. Other highlights included double victories from two-time Olympic team gold medallist McLain Ward, the appearance of the award-winning pure-bred Friesian stallion, Frederick the Great, along with a special ceremony to honour the U.S. equestrian Olympians from the 2016 Games in Rio.
New York, here I come! Looking forward to seeing so many Friends and Fans at the Rolex Central Park Horse Show. pic.twitter.com/Y9woAn0k1m
— Frederik the Great (@frederikhorse) September 15, 2016
DRESSAGE STARS SPARKLED UNDER THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF NEW YORK CITY
The international dressage Grand Prix CDI4* made its first appearance in the Wollman Rink on Friday afternoon and was won by Olympian Judy Reynolds of Ireland and Vancouver K with a beautiful test that scored 73.80%.
Judy and her 14-year-old gelding returned on Saturday night for the US Open Dressage Freestyle and claimed their second title, with a final score of 77.051.
Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro wowed the crowd with their breathtaking freestyle routine which won the gold medal in Rio. The world-renowned pair, performing in public for the first time since the Olympics, received a standing ovation.
“It is such an honour to be here,” Charlotte said. “I am so glad that people get to see Valegro; he is such a special horse and he loves to perform, so he has really enjoyed himself here.”
OLYMPIANS HONOuRED
The red carpet was rolled out in the arena as the USA’s equestrian Olympic stars arrived in in a Range Rover HSE and a Range Rover Autobiography Long Wheel Base to be honored in front of the sell-out crowd. Among them were the dressage team bronze medallists (Steffen Peters, Laura Graves, Allison Brock and Kasey Perry-Glass), show jumping team silver winners Kent Farrington and McLain Ward, and Phillip Dutton, who won individual bronze in eventing.
“Being here in the city and being honoured for my Olympic performance, it’s a dream come true and I am so proud,” said Phillip. “The show is great – what a good concept, to bring the sport to the people. The atmosphere is wonderful, and the team behind it have done a fantastic job.”
Two classes, two wins for McLain Ward last night at the Rolex Central Park Horse Show! https://t.co/msI8dEr9uA pic.twitter.com/98xgdWE2es
— Chronicle o/t Horse (@ChronofHorse) September 23, 2016
McLain Ward was unstoppable on Thursday as he clinched the top prize in the Open Canadian Pacific FEI Speed Class with a stunning round aboard the powerful HH Carlos Z in a time of 58.63: their first Central Park Horse Show victory. He followed this up with a second win in the crowd’s favourite competition, the puissance, this time riding ZZ Top VH Schaarbroek Z. In the fourth and final round, with the wall standing at 6’9″ [2.057m] and all other contenders out of the running, McLain went head-to-head with Andrew Kocher (USA) on C’Havinia. Neither managed to jump clear, so the $50,000 prize was shared between them.
“Carlos has been a great campaigner of mine over the years and is great against the clock,” said McLain. “We weren’t really expecting the puissance win but ZZ Top VH Schaarbroek Z performed beautifully, so we are really pleased. The atmosphere is phenomenal, the setting is so iconic and beautiful; it’s a great show.”
Friday’s highlight was the Rolex US Open CSI 3* Grand Prix. Included in the formidable line-up were World no.2 Kent Farrington and 2014 winner Georgina Bloomberg. Olympic course designer Guilherme Jorge set a tough track which saw only 10 combinations advance to the final round, and spectators were treated to a nail-biting finish. Jimmy Torano (USA) clinched the title aboard his eight-year-old, Day Dream, in the time of 37.05 seconds; New Zealand’s Sharn Wordley was second with the only other double clear in the competition, and Conor Swail (IRL) had the fastest four-fault round, finishing third on Cita. You can read a more detailed report of this on our separate post (“Jimmy wins but our Sharn second”).
