Richard Spooner on Halcon won the $100,000 Grand Prix at the World Equestrian Center

Details: January 21, 2024; By Staff Writers

OCALA, Fla.--Richard Spooner on Halcon won the $100,000 Grand Prix at the World Equestrian Center on Saturday, Jan. 20, an unseasonable chilly Florida night.

Richard Spooneron Halcon Andrew Ryback Richard Spooner on Halcon (Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography)The FEI Level III course designer Anderson Lima of Mexico set the course over which four were clean to make the jump-off..

The jump-off included Olympic gold medalist Will Simpson, Luis Sabino Goncavles of Portugal, Kris Killam and Spooner.

Simpson, first in the jump-off, rode Es Keminko N in his first Saturday night grand prix and set the time to beat at 41.942 seconds.

Thursday’s welcome grand prix winner, Goncalves on Scoop De Septon Z, then took over the lead with a time of 41.576 seconds, just three tenths of a second quicker than Simpson.

Killam on Gangster CHS had four faults in 40.817 seconds to eventually finish fourth.

Spooner was the last to go on Halcon, a 9-year-old Argentinian Sport Horse stallion, and was clean in 39.733, two seconds faster than Goncalves, to win his first Saturday night grand prix.

“IT WAS HIS first jump-off under the lights, but he’s fast, almost cat-like, scopey, careful, and every once in a while, you’ll get a horse that understands the game, and he’s one of those horses,” said Spooner of Halcon. “I just thought, angle fence one, go quick across the middle and if he feels confident after fence two, I’ll just keep the hammer down, and he stood up to the test.”

“During COVID, we bought Halcon from some friends of mine in Argentina," he said. "They sent me a video and I didn’t get to go try him or anything, we just bought him off a video. Molly Ohrstrom has horses all over the world and has had horses with me in the past, she went ahead and bought him. He’s just been a dream come true.”

“We got him as a 4-year-old, and I think he was 6 when I moved here, to Florida," said Spooner. "We started out here in the 1.10m in Jumper 1 outback. This facility is so exceptional that it’s really fulfilled all the things you need as a horseman, and the horse’s progression is a testament to the job this facility has done. You have the opportunity to bring a horse from down there all the way to up here.”