OCALA, Fla.--Sharn Wordley of New Zealand on Valentine Car won the $100,000 Grand Prix onn Sunday, March 12 at HITS Ocala.
Wordley won in a 10-horse jump-off over Australia’s Rowan Willis, who was just a second behind on Primo Troy to place second, while Canada’s Paul Halpern was third on Esra.
“Valentine Car is a fantastic horse,” said Wordley. “He's won a lot of FEI classes and a bunch of good grand prix with me. He's kind of a quirky ride, but he's consistent and he's very fast. When you get him to a jump-off, he's right there.”
“He's cocky and cheeky," said Wordley. "I've fallen off him twice this month already. He spooks and spins and carries on like he's 4 years old, but when he gets in the jump-off, he is all business.”
Germany’s Andre Thieme was the first clean in the jump-off on Candid 14, setting the time to beat at 38.784 seconds, which would hold up for fourth place.
Willis on Primo Troy was soon able beat Thieme, crossing the finish line with two seconds to spare in a clear 36.345 seconds, but Wordley was next in the ring.
WORDLEY was fast to the first oxer and made a very tight turn to the combination before leaving out a stride in the final line to finish in 35.453 seconds, going straight to the top of the leaderboard.
Halpen on Esra was next to compete and was clean in 36.907 seconds to eventually place third, giving Wordley the win.
“Valentine Car is a really quick-moving horse, but he did a fast turn to the combination, which made up quite a bit of time,” said Wordley. “He turned very tight and he was quite fast down the last line, but a lot of the horses were on a similar time, so it was a quick class.”
Wordley is one of the co-founders of Wordley Martin, who resurfaced four of the rings at HITS Ocala for the 2023 show season, and will be heading to HITS Saugerties to resurface three of the rings at that facility.
“I'm happy with all the progress that HITS has made here in a very short period of time,” said Wordley. “At Saugerties, we're going to redo three of the main arenas, so that's the main improvement, but we're going to try to create a softer, more Adirondack feeling to the venue as well. It will be done in stages, but the first stage for the food area, the office and some of those public areas will make it a more inviting, warm place.”