WELLINGTON, Fla.-- McLain Ward scored another big win on Thursday, Feb. 22, by riding Hija van Strokapelleken to victory in the $132,000 WEF Challenge Cup in week 7 at WEF.
McLain Ward and Hija van Strokapelleken (Photo by Sportfot)Ward won his second five-star WEF Challenge Cup after taking the top spot in week five’s class with HH Azur, his 2016 Olympic team silver medal mount.
Riding Hija van Strokapelleken, an 11-year-old mare, Ward topped a class of 52 entries and 19 in the jump-off over an Anthony D’Ambrosio-designed course.
They finished the short course in 35.20 seconds for the win.
Daniel Coyle of Ireland was second on Cita, finishing in 36.01 seconds, and Jessica Springsteen of Colts Neck, N.J., on RMF Swinny du Park was third in 36.11 seconds.
Hija van Strokapelleken joined Ward’s string of international horses at the beginning of 2018 and already won a FEI ranking class on the opening day of WEF.
SHE IS now one of five grey mares that Ward competes with, in addition to HH Gigi’s Girl, Bellefleur PS Z, Cerise and a new to-be-announced mount, and she joins additional mares HH Azur, HH Callas, Elize La Elsmos and Handy Van HD.
“I get along with them really well,” Ward said of the mares. “When you have success with a particular type of horse, you’re probably subconsciously drawn to that. I can’t say that when I look at a horse, I let all of those types of stereotypes factor in. Boy, girl, color, white eye, I think it’s a little bit nonsense; you just look for a nice horse.
“Probably in our program, it’s good for the mares,” he said. “We’re quite sensitive, and we try to reward them when they’re performing well and give them a bit of an easy lifestyle. That probably doesn’t work so well with stallions, who need a little bit more discipline. I think it allows the mares to flourish a little, because they’re normally quite happy with that.”
“Hija” was purchased by top under 25 rider Jennifer Gates who briefly competed with her before Nayel Nassar took over the ride. She returned to Ward to be sold and the large mare has proven to be a valuable asset.
“She’s a really big mare,” Ward said. “Probably that’s why Jenn let Nayel and myself ride her, because we’re taller. But it’s funny, once you get on her, other than her stride being massive which I use to my advantage, she doesn’t feel so big. She’s really rideable, has a lot of blood, and she’s slab-sided, so she doesn’t take up so much of your leg. When you first walk up to get on her, she looks massive, but when you ride her, you don’t notice her size so much. She doesn’t ride like a big horse.”
SATURDAY evening, in the $384,000 Rolex Grand Prix, the second 5* grand prix of the season,Ward on the great HHAzur just missed another win, placiing third to Danielle Goldstein.
McLain Ward and HH Azur (Photo by Sportfot)Goldstein, riding for Israel. rode Lizziemary to finish in a blazing time of 35.92 seconds, but, even more importantly, the only one of two clear rounds in the six horse jump-off from a starting field of 39.
Liubov Kochetova of Russia rode her own Veneno to produce the only other clear round in 45.77 seconds, which placed her second.
Going last in the jump-off, Ward and HH Azur were on pace to win, but a front rail at the final oxer relegated them to third place in 36.60 seconds.
“Azur was brilliant,” said Ward. “Dani put up a great jump-off round. It wasn’t easy to beat. She did eight (strides) to the last, which I actually hadn’t walked. I thought it was nine. When I rolled back on the skinny, it didn’t show up exactly the way I wanted. I thought the mare made a great move to clear it, but we landed very far to the left. I just didn’t see the line to do it, and I chickened out and did the nine. I knew the nine was too slow, so I was trying to do the nine quickly, and I just drove her through the front rail. It was rider error, but it was rider error because Dani put up a great effort. I wasn’t going to be able to back into winning, so congratulations to her.”
