Asked after a walk-through of the Hampton Classic’s 17-effort Grand Prix course Sunday what the hard parts might be, Stephen Hirsch, Jessica Leto’s trainer, said the line leading into Number 10, the open water jump. Having scaled the eighth (the gold plank) and ninth obstacles, the horses might fall asleep, he said, thinking they were heading for home, when, in fact, they needed to rebuild to clear the water jump to their right.
Indeed, Hirsch’s analysis proved out, for in the 38 horse-and-rider field later that afternoon, 10 entries — the seven-time Grand Prix winner here, McLain Ward, and Imperial HBF among them — got their hoofs wet.
It wasn’t just the water jump, though — there were rails down pretty much all over Nick Granat’s course that day, a challenging one that drew praise at the press conference afterward from Peter Leone, an Olympic silver medalist who serves as VVH-TV’s expert commentator.
Attesting to the Grand Prix course’s difficulty was the fact that no one among the first 20 entrants — a group that included the world’s top-ranked rider, Kent Farrington, on Greya — had gone clear by the time a break was taken so that the ring’s surface could be sprayed and so that the packed grandstand crowd could visit the food and drink vendors.
A good number of those spectators weren’t back in their seats when the day’s first clear round was turned in, by Kristen Vanderveen and Bull’s Run Jireh, the 21st horse-and-rider combination to go. Two more fault-free trips were yet to come, by Jessica Mendoza, an English rider, and In the Air, and by Shane Sweetnam of Ireland and James Kann Cruz, the penultimate contestants, Ward and Imperial HBF having earned the last spot for having won Friday’s Grand Prix Qualifier.
Thus Vanderveen, Mendoza, and Sweetnam went at it in the seven-effort timed jump-off, with Mendoza and In the Air ultimately prevailing by a half-second over Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz to capture the $132,000 first-place prize.
Marty Bauman, the 50-year-old show’s press officer, said at the press conference that Mendoza, who also won the $20,000 Longines Rider Challenge in the 5-Star division, was only the second U.K. equestrian to win the Classic’s main event, the other, he said, being Tim Grubb in 1996. It was also Mendoza’s first 5-Star level win.
Granat, according to Bauman’s subsequent press release, said he knew the course would be very difficult, but was happy that the spectators were treated to a jump-off.
“My mare was perfect across the ground. She’s an incredible horse — she really found herself this year,” Mendoza said, adding that “to win here, at one of the best American shows, was pretty amazing.”
“My horse is a very different horse from Jessica’s — he spends a bit of time in the air, and is a bit slower,” Sweetnam said, adding that “my jump-off plan was close enough to what I thought would be enough to challenge. He jumped great. In hindsight, I could have taken a few more gambles.”
In other major Hampton Classic competitions during the week, Ward and Imperial HBF won the $116,100 Douglas Elliman 5-Star Grand Prix Qualifier; Faleh Suwead Al Ajami and Karmalensky won the $70,000 Hampton Classic 2-Star Grand Prix and also the $10,000 Longines 2-Star Rider Challenge; Stella Wasserman, on Myjorka and Precious Dwerse Hagen, captured first and second place in the $32,000 Wolffer Estate 2-Star Grand Prix Qualifier; Elena Haas and Ogue BT Special won the $25,000 Agneta and Brownlee Currey Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic; Rylynn Conway received the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Style of Riding Award; Lily Herzog was the judges’ choice as the show’s best junior hunter rider; Cerulean won the Grand Hunter championship, and Scott Stewart was named the week’s leading hunter rider.
