OLD SALEM, N.Y.--Defending champion McLain Ward on Callas won the 4*, $225,000 Empire State Grand Prix for the second year in a row on Sunday, May 18 at the Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows.
McLain Ward on Callas (Photo by SEL Photography)Ward was clean in 32.57 seconds to win over nine in the jump-off, the top four of which were within a second of each other.
Alan Wade set the course for the 28 entries representing eight countries.
“Callas is a longtime partner of mine; she’s a veteran and an overall fantastic mare,” Ward said. “The jump-off set up well for us. There were two sharp left turns that were good for her. She tends to drift a little in that direction, and today, she performed beautifully. I think coming behind Jordan Coyle had me a little worried. I mean, he’s a go-for-broke rider, and when he jumps a double-clear, it’s usually quite the challenge to catch. But I really just stuck to my plan. The mare felt great, and everything showed up well for us.”
Ward of Brewster, N.Y., has won numerous grand prix classes at Old Salem Farm and had the home crowd cheering as soon as he crossed the timers.
“This is home for us,” he said. “We started about 35 years ago here; I remember I was second back in 1990. It’s been a long journey, and it’s amazing to see this event as prestigious as ever.”
IT WAS A thrilling jump-off, with seven of the nine going clean, four withing one second of each other and the fifth just hundreds of a second behind Ward's 32.57.
Philip McGuane on Orphea HQ placed second in 32.95 seconds, Jordan Coyle on Jorisca was third in 33.18 seconds,and Darragh Kenny on Diaroubet was fourth in 33.42, all three from Ireland.
Mimi Gochman on Inclen B H was fifth in 33.71.
Right after the class Ward left to fly to Italy to compete in the Nations Cup in Rome next weekend, after which he flies back to compete at Devon, then back to France for the Nations Cup in La Baule.
One class earlier, Gochman on Lmiere B H won the $15,000 SJHOF 1.40m Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic, clean in 34.914 in a 14 horse jump-off.
Tori Corts of Wellington, Fla., on Semi Automatic was second clean in 35.000,and Livia Martin of Ottawa, Ontario, on Pick Wick Van De Kruishoeve was third in 35.427.
“Livia Martin was a barn-mate of ours, and I watched her go,” Gochman said. “She actually did one less stride in the last line than I originally planned, so that definitely helped me out as I was able to change my track. Definitely in these types of classes where everyone is getting faster, it’s a total advantage to go toward the end. I was lucky enough to have a late draw today and have all the cards on my side, and it worked out."
“Lumiere is a newer mount for me,” she said. “I think he has so much potential to jump really big jumps. He’s absolutely incredible, and he has so many great qualities. I’m just getting to know him, so today was a huge step in the right direction for both of us. He’s a bigger guy, so we’re still trying to figure out how to get him to clear the jumps and jump as well as he can while also going a bit quicker. That doesn’t always come hand-in-hand with him, but he’s picked it up so quickly and he’s really easy to work with. It’s been great, and it’s something we’ll keep working on.”
Gochman and Corts also won the 1.40m Junior/Amateur Jumper Champion and Reserve Champion titles, respectively.
