THERMAL, Calif.--Laura Kraut on Bisquetta won the $750,000 CSI5* Coachella Cup Grand Prix by just three one-hundredths of a second over McLain Ward on High Star Hero on Saturday, Dec. 6, at Desert International Horse Park
Laura Kraut on Bisquetta (Photo by High Desert Sport Photo)It was a thrilling 11 horse jump-off over the course set by Alan Wade, with six going clean and less than one second separating the top four finishers.
Despite having to go second in the jump-off, Kraut finished in 36.27 to win over Ward, clean in 36.30.
Skylar Wireman on Barclino B was third in 36.43, with Daniel Bluman on Corbie V.V. fourth in 37.18, Nina Mallevaey on Dynastie de Baufour fifth in 37.54, and Cian O;Connor on Kentucky CN sixth in 28.82.
Aaron Vale on Carissimo 25 had four faults in 36.98 for sevenths, while Nicola Philppaerts, Richie Vogel and Kaitlin Campbell had eight faults and Conor Swail had 12 faults.
“The best horse and rider combinations from Thursday’s $182,000 CSI5* Qualifier went at the end, and I had made a mistake on Thursday, so I went early,” said Kraut. “I thought, ‘It’s hard for me to beat this group on a day when I can watch them, but much less when I go early!’ I just thought, ‘I’m just going to go and go as fast as I can’ – which is normally not nearly fast enough.”
"WHEN I came out of the ring I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll be fifth, maybe fourth,’” she said. “I think I put enough pressure on that they had to give it a go, and mistakes were made, I guess. I didn’t watch any of them. I’m a little superstitious that way!”
McLain Ward on High Star Hero (Photo by High Desert Sport Photo)“Bisquetta is one of the best horses I’ve ever had,” said Kraut. “She’s careful; she’s brave; she’s quick, and she lets me tell her what to do, which is really nice. I feel like I’ve got just a really special horse, and I am very lucky every time I get to ride her.”
“I told Laura (age 60) that I’m getting a little old to go that fast!” joked Ward, 50. “It’s obviously a great competition offered here. It was great sport; I think 20 of the top 50 riders in the world, someone said. So that’s a pretty strong field.”
“Laura set a challenging time," said Ward. "I think she’s being a bit humble to say that she can’t go as fast as those ones because she can, and she regularly does.”
For 21-year-old Wireman, placing third tp Kraut and Ward marked another impressive accomplishment for the young rider’s growing resume.
“It honestly doesn’t feel real to sit next to these two,” said Wireman. “It’s pretty crazy, and I just can’t thank my horse enough. His first real 1.60m was at Silo Ridge, and then ever since then, he just really kind of turned the corner. We just kind of broke into this. So, to have that great finish at Toronto (second place in the $280,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Toronto) really left us feeling ready for this. I felt like he was ready to take on the speedy ones.”
