OCALA, Fla.--Jad Dana of Lebanon on Itchcock des Dames won the $250,000 CSI4* Grand Prix on Saturday evening, July 11 during the Summer Series at the World Equestrian Center.
Jad Dana on Itchcock des Dames (Photo by Andrew Ryback)Five made the jump-off over the course set by Marina Azevedo of Brazil.
Aaron Vale on Carissimo 25, second to go in the jump-off, went clean in 42.03 seconds to go into the lead.
“My plan was to go wide from one to two in seven," said Vale. "Even going wide, the seven was still quite slow for me. I was very deep at fence two, which made my eight strides to number three very fast. In the course walk, I thought I might have been able to get eight back to the wall, but I was a little far off the oxer, so I ended up doing nine.”
Heading into the jump-off, Dana knew he was chasing one of the fastest riders in the sport, with another speedy rider still to go.
“I mean, I’m competing against Luis Sabino Goncalves and Aaron Vale," said Dana. "They are absolutely amazing, so I knew it was going to be hard to beat them for sure."
“I KNOW Aaron did one less from the second to the third jump, but it’s not a realistic number for my horse." said Dana. "So I did the seven in the first line. My horse can go right very well, so I just put a really nice, direct, fast line and did nine strides to the third jump. His weakness, I would say, in the jump-off is the left turn. So I would say the turn to the wall, and after the wall I was just a bit slow. Luckily, after that I could go really fast, and I think that’s where I really made my time.”
Dana finished clean in 41.95 seconds, edging Vale by just eight hundredths of a second to eventually win.
"It feels amazing. It really does. I remember last year when I won, it was probably the biggest win in my career so far, and now, to do it again, it feels amazing," Dana said. "My horse's owner, she's here. She came here for one day to watch him today, and to come out with the win is very, very rewarding."
Thursday's winner of the Grand Prix Qualifier CSI4*, Luis Sabino Goncalves of Portugal on Scoop de Septon Z was the final rider to return and was the fastest of those with four faults, finishing in 43.84 seconds to place third.
"On Thursday, I tried to do well enough that others had to take more risks," said Goncalves. "This time, I tried to beat Jad and Aaron, so I took risks. It's the sport.”
