Bridgehampton, NY – Sept. 3, 2021 – Five-time Olympian McLain Ward (USA) and Blossom Z, owned by Ward, Wyndmont, and Heller, brought home their second consecutive win at the Hampton Classic on Friday, riding to victory in the $37,000 1.50m Jumper Classic in a time of 57.410 seconds.
Ward and the 11-year-old Zangersheide mare shaved over a full second off Jonathan Corrigan’s time of 59.000 seconds. Corrigan (IRL) piloted Andrea Vogel’s Fair Play, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, through the first of 22 rounds. The 14-effort course was designed by Ireland’s Alan Wade.
“It’s always nice to win, and Blossom performed beautifully,” Ward said. “There’s been a monumental effort this week by the Hampton Classic and their entire management team. We had some issues with the turf and a year off with COVID, so the environment has changed. They really moved Heaven and Earth – literally – to be able to get us back to the Grand Prix Ring for the weekend on all-weather footing. I think it worked and we’ll have some great sport.”
“Jonathan had the unenviable position of going first in a speed class, which is always difficult,” Ward added. “And with the new ground, we weren’t 100 percent sure how the horses were going to react. I think the advantage of the order was a big deal.”
Adrienne Sternlicht (USA) was the only other rider to beat Corrigan’s round, stopping the clock at a second-place time of 58.400 seconds aboard Lafayette Van Overis, a 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by Starlight Farms 1 LLC. Corrigan and Fair Play ultimately finished third.
This victory increases Ward’s lead in the $30,000 LONGINES Rider Challenge with a total of 338 points. Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) has moved into second place with 190 points, and Amanda Derbyshire (GBR) is third with 160 points.
Later in the day, 34 riders took on the $10,000 Lugano Diamonds Junior/Amateur/Amateur-Owner Show Jumping Derby Welcome Stake, a 13-effort 1.40m course also designed by Alan Wade.
Zayna Rizvi of Fairfield, Conn., rode to a 1-3 finish aboard Peacock Ridge LLC’s Excellent and North Run Inc.’s Quivive S Z with times of 55.196 and 57.077 seconds, respectively. Alexa Lignelli of New York, N.Y., piloted Hampton Green Farm LLC’s Darc Kiss Z to second place, stopping the clock at 56.935 seconds.
“On my first horse (Quivive S Z), I went pretty fast,” Rizvi said. “Then Alexa went and was even faster, so I was a little nervous. I didn’t know if I could beat her time. My second horse (Excellent) has a massive stride, and he loves to go, which definitely helped me out. It was so much fun out there. I really liked this course today and think it worked well for us.”
In the Agneta Currey Boutique Garden, Grand Prix rider Serena Marron (USA) and Rapidash, an EQUUS Foundation Equine Ambassador owned by Horse Orchard LLC, were on hand at the Petography booth to help renowned “petographer” Jim Dratfield promote his book, Her Horse. A portion of Rapidash’s winnings and proceeds from the book sales go to the EQUUS Foundation to help ensure that all horses are safe, healthy, and treated with dignity as partners.
For full show results, visit shownet.biz.
