Edited Press Release

June 2, 2023–

1st: McLain Ward & Catoki 2nd: Cathleen Driscoll & Flotylla 3rd: Laura Chapot & Dirado’s Flying Dutchman

The sun set and the lights shinned on the Dixon Oval for the night class on Friday at the Devon Horse Show – a stellar FEI CSI4* one round competition. Speed was the name of the game, and because the class was set to the Table C format of FEI rules, instead of a rail counting for four faults, it counted for four seconds added on the clock to the riders’ overall time.

Course designer Anderson Lima pulled everything out of his bag of tricks, utilizing two rings for the long track that featured two option opportunities at jump five and jump 14. With only two days of competition remaining, 31 horse-and-rider combinations stared down the Dixon Oval eager to capture one of the final blue ribbons of the 2023 Devon Horse Show.

Jessica Mendoza and Charlyn set the pace very early on with a clear round at 81.04 seconds, and their lead was not caught until Laura Chapot and Jimmy Torano entered the ring on back to back rides. The veteran McLain Ward, however, bested them all with a speedy round at 76.19 seconds, nearly three seconds faster than the second place duo.

Ward on his second win this week: “It was a very different type of competition. It’s a new class here at Devon that I’ve actually been proposing to them for a couple years. There’s a similar type class shown in Holland and its a crowd favorite, so no better place than Devon to have an event like this. It challenging, exciting and something different.”

Original press release from Phelps Media.