It was standing room only at World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC) for the $120,000 CSI3*Ascentѐ Aviation Grand Prix. A special Ascentѐ Aviation helicopter flyover kicked off the evening before 27 top horse-and-rider combinations took centre stage. In the end, it was the pathfinding duo of Australian Lauren Balcomb and her very own Verdini D’houtveld Z (Verdi Tn x Caretino 2) who proved uncatchable once again, galloping away with the lion’s share of the prize money and a round-trip helicopter experience.
FEI Level IV course designer Olaf Petersen of Germany set the track for Saturday night’s competition, which proved to be a true test with several questions asked throughout the course. Only four combinations managed to deliver a clear first round to advance to the jump-off.
“He is a once-in-a-lifetime horse…”
The first duo down the ramp was Lauren Balcomb aboard her longtime partner Verdini D’houtveld Z. While leading off the jump-off is not always ideal, Balcomb stuck to her plan. “Most of the course was off your eye. So I just wanted to be as quick as I could everywhere, but not risk it and not take too much out of him. So, it was quite a nice little jump-off where I could keep ticking along, but I didn’t have to do anything too crazy.”
“I jumped against one quite straight, a few people angled it, but I thought it would be better just to jump it straight and roll back as quick as I could. Then I planned 10 to the vertical. Then nine back to the orange vertical, and then I just went off my eye to the combination. I knew six was going to be really steady, and then I had to rollback as tight as I could. Then I had to do my best gallop to the last, and he was great.”
The pair stopped the clock in an unbeatable 44.91 seconds to secure the top spot on the podium.
The 15-year-old Zangersheide gelding is a family member to Balcomb, and according to her, “everything” is her favourite part about him. “He’s so cute. He’s like my pet and just the sweetest animal. He has so much heart. It’s like, where do you stop with a horse like that? He is a once-in-a-lifetime horse.”
Charlotte Jacobs of the USA was the only other athlete to produce a double-clear effort. She piloted North Star’s 11-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare Instrumental (Qualdandro x Indoctro) to a clear round in 46.00 seconds to claim second place.
Of the remaining two jump-off contenders, it was Thursday’s Grand Prix Qualifier winners Sean Jobin of Canada and Antrim Equestrian’s 10-year-old Selle Français mare Grande Dame DK (By Ceira D’ick x Kannan) who earned the yellow ribbon with a time of 46.93 seconds after lowering one rail.
In addition to the win, the champions of Saturday night’s $120,000 Ascentѐ Aviation Grand Prix CSI3* were awarded a round-trip helicopter charter from Ocala, Florida, to Wellington, Florida. The experience includes transportation for up to six passengers with a single pilot, or a comparable trip based on equivalent airtime, courtesy of Brigway and Ascentѐ Aviation. Balcomb was thrilled with the prize, sharing, “I am so excited! This will be my first-ever helicopter ride.”
Full results from WEC Ocala Winter Spectacular IV can be found here.
Photos courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.
Source: WEC press release, edited by EQ Life
