Peter Leone, questioned during the walk-through preceding Sunday’s $425,000 Longines Grand Prix at the Hampton Classic showgrounds in Bridgehampton, cited eight of the course’s 14 obstacles as being particularly challenging, though a rider standing next to him said that all were.
And, indeed, that rider was pretty much right, for by the end of the first round, faults had been committed by the 37 horse-and-rider combinations at all but one of them, the first fence — the triple combination in front of the V.I.P. tent and the penultimate fence proving to be the most troublesome.
Evidence that the five-loop, 1.60-meter course designed by Alan Wade of Ireland was plenty tough could be found in the fact that it wasn’t until 27 riders, including McLain Ward, Kent Farrington, Mario Deslauriers, and Karl Cook, the defending champion, had gone that there was a fault-free trip, by Adrienne Sternlicht and Faquitol-S, who were loudly cheered by the spectators who packed the grandstand.
Soon after, Daniel Bluman, a two-time Grand Prix winner, in 2017 and 2021, and his 15-year-old gelding, Ladriano Z, went clean too. And that was it. They were the only two riders to vie in the jump-off, a rarity at the Classic.
Bluman and Ladriano Z went clean in the jump-off too, to win the Classic’s main event for the third time. “I was very confident and very grateful for this horse today,” Bluman, who represents Israel in international competitions, was quoted as saying at the press conference afterward. “He’s a very special horse — it’s rare that he has more than one rail down.”
“I think the course was pretty delicate everywhere,” Sternlicht said. “Alan is such a master at course building, and part of the reason is because every single fence comes into play out there. That’s a huge testament to his designs.”
Bluman, one of four riders to have won the Grand Prix three times, collected $140,250 in prize money; Sternlicht won $85,000. Luis Fernando Larrazabal, the third-place finisher on Condara, who went fault-free in the first round until the last fence, won $63,750.
Farrington, Deslauriers, and Brianne Goutal-Marteau, a former three-time Classic runner-up who lives in Sag Harbor, rounded out the top six.
Bluman finished behind Darragh Kenny of Ireland in the Longines rider-of-the-week challenge. Nayel Nassar of Egypt was third.
In other events during the course of the week: Jimmy Torano and Chewbacca won the $78,000 Grand Prix Qualifier; Mark Bluman and Zuperman MT won the $39,000 Wolffer Estate Two-Star Jumper Classic; Rene Dittmer and Burlington Riverland won the $39,000 Flecha Azul Five-Star Speed Stake; Nick Haness, on three mounts, swept the $25,000 Hunter Classic; Aaron Vale and I. Adermie R 4 won the $10,000 Citarella Two-Star Open Jumper Class; Cody Rego won the $10,000 equitation championship, and Rodrigo Pessoa won the $10,000 Open Jumper Class on Aug. 30.
