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Katy, TX – In their first grand prix together in a year and a half, Daisy Ford and Gatsby captured victory in the $25,000 Olde Oaks Farm Grand Prix, held on Saturday, November 12, during the Great Southwest Autumn Classic in Katy, TX.

Ford and her partner of eight years were one of 10 entries to advance to the jump-off, designed by Canada’s Danny Foster. From there, speed was very much the name of game, with all 10 entries ultimately producing double-clear efforts.

As the seventh pair to return, Ford and Gatsby flew over the first vertical before slicing over an oxer in the middle of the ring and galloping down to another vertical at the opposite end of the ring.

“I was like, ‘If I can leave jump one up, I’m good,’” said Ford, 23. “He’s got such an enormous stride, and the oxers I don’t have to worry about. I only have to worry about the verticals because he jumps a little flat sometimes. I jumped fence one, looked at jump two, saw the flyer, jumped jump two, and then three came up perfectly. At that point, I knew as long as I kept on the track, he would be fine. I didn’t expect to take as much time off, but he was fantastic!”

When Ford entered the ring, no one had yet broken the 40-second mark, but she and Gatsby made shaving nearly three seconds off of that time look easy, stopping the clock in 37.024 seconds for the win.

Natalee Haggan and MTM Hyperion Z, owned by MTM Farm, were the very next duo in the ring, and they tripped the timers in 39.100 seconds to take second place. Rounding out the top three with a time of 40.009 seconds were Alwaleed Alrashid and RSH Grand-Dessert, owned by Royal Sport Horses.

While Ford has been partnered with Gatsby for quite some time, he spent a year out on lease before returning to Ford in May of this year.

“I got him back in the beginning of May, and he’s older; he’s 16, so we gave him some time off,” explained Ford of the Oldenburg gelding that now resides in her backyard as she grows her business, Ford Farms. “This is my first grand prix back in a year and a half for myself and eight months for him. We were going back and forth on even if we should do it tonight. I got on, and he felt right. So, I was like, ‘Let’s go for it!’ I didn’t expect to jump clean, and he jumped clean. So, then I was like, ‘Well, I guess I have to go for it in the jump-off!’”

Ford continued, “It was a little technical, especially since I haven’t jumped at this height in a year and a half. I’ve had a young horse for the last year and a half, so I’ve been working on that. I was a little nervous coming in. I wanted to really be careful through the combinations. After jump three or four, I thought, ‘Alright, we’re good. He’s on.’ I got lucky.”

For full results of the $25,000 Olde Oaks Farm Grand Prix, click here.

Katy, TX – Happy Comly and Derby CSH dashed to an impressive victory in the $10,000 Antarès Welcome Stake on Thursday, November 10, at the Great Southwest Autumn Classic in Katy, TX.

Comly and the 9-year-old Warmblood gelding, owned by Comly Sport Horses, were one of 20 entries to take on the first-round track designed by Danny Foster and one of nine combinations to advance to the jump-off.

When the pair set off on the short course, the time to beat had been set at 48.528 seconds by the first duo to jump off, Hannah Colligan and her own Jazelly VDL. Comly and Derby CSH made besting that time look easy, blazing across the finish in a lightning-fast 36.360 seconds. That time would prove untouchable, with no one else coming within two and a half seconds of Comly’s pace. Second place with a time of 39.037 seconds went to Frank Owens and Just Jeremy ES, owned by DS Holdings LLC. Rounding out the top three was Daniel Bedoya, who rode Monica Hank’s Jumpstar Uno to a jump-off time of 39.522 seconds.

“We definitely made the time in the first three fences,” explained Comly, who has had the ride on Derby CSH for the past two years. “After that, I could pull on the reins a little bit and steady him because the first three jumps, we already had the time. He was so fast.”

Comly continued, “We call him the red dragon; he’s a fireball. When he’s good, he’s unbeatable. It’s like he shot out of a cannon. He’s crazy wild. He doesn’t really like to keep a lead, so he’s kind of cantering all over the place, but as soon as you point him at a fence, he’s going over. He wants to go clean, so I really don’t care what he does between the fences!”

For full results of the $10,000 Antarès Welcome Stake, click here.

After topping the Welcome Stake on Thursday, Comly returned to the main indoor at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center on Friday to make it two in a row. This time, she claimed victory in the $5,000 Hygain Mini Prix aboard Kyra van de Doornhaag, owned by Foxglove LLC. Finishing in second place in the Friday featured class were Lindsay Buck on Whiskey Neat, and Hannah Colligan and Silhouette CF rounded out the top three.

“I love the people [here at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center],” concluded Comly. “Amy [Uniss-Coleman] takes care of us every time we come out here. We love it. Danny Foster’s a great course designer. He loves it when we go really fast and have a really game jump-off. For the people in Texas, it’s fun coming back home, after being gone all summer, and seeing everybody again.”

Katy, Texas – Jacqueline Ruyle claimed the top two spots in the $25,000 ReRide Tack Grand Prix with San Chano and Cyramo Z, respectively, on Thursday, February 24, at the Texas Winter Series Week IV in Katy, TX.

From a field of 26 horses, 12 navigated the first-round, Oscar Soberon-designed course without fault, with 10 of them electing to return for the jump-off. As the third to return, Ruyle and her own San Chano set the early time to beat at 36.949 seconds, and that time would prove to be uncatchable.

Ruyle came the closest to besting her own pace, finishing in second with a time of 38.401 seconds aboard her own Cyramo Z. Third place by just three one-hundredths of a second went to Savannah Hemby and Juju VDM, who stopped the clock in 38.404 seconds, and Taylor Land and Falco V rounded out the top four with a clear time of 38.596 seconds.

“It feels awesome [to win]!” said Ruyle, who trains with Bedoya Training Stables. “It feels wonderful. [San Chano] and I have been showing in Florida for the past couple of weeks, and we’ve had one rail, one rail, one rail, so it’s nice to pull it together finally!

“Everything just flowed really nicely from the first jump to the last,” continued Ruyle, who has been partnered with San Chano for several years. “I kind of found everything forward, and it was just a nice float.”

The 28-year-old Houston native grew up competing at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center, and while she now frequently also travels to compete on the East Coast, she always looks forward to returning to her hometown venue.

“It’s nice to come home and show in our hometown,” said Ruyle. “I’ve been really impressed with the footing improvements that they’ve made. I really like the way that they’ve been preparing the footing in the warm-up in the jumper ring here that I’ve been showing in; I’m enjoying it.”

Ruyle will now look toward the featured event of the Texas Winter Series Week IV, Saturday’s $100,000 Lone Star State Grand Prix.

Other highlights of the week include Friday’s $10,000 1.25m Jumper Classic and $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby. Re-watch the $25,000 Grand Prix and watch the remainder of this week’s featured classes live on Horse & Country TV here!

In addition to hosting the Texas Winter Series, the Great Southwest Equestrian Center is home to the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, to be held March 23- April 10, 2022. Learn more about the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show here, and visit the Great Southwest Equestrian Center’s website here.

For full results of Thursday’s $25,000 ReRide Tack Grand Prix visit horseshowsonline.com.

Katy, Texas – For the third time in a row, Taylor Land landed the top two spots at the Great Southwest Texas Winter Series. This time, Land kicked off the fourth and final week of the series with a one-two finish in the $20,000 Welcome Stake on Wednesday, February 23, in Katy, Texas.  

After finishing both first and second in the $15,000 Welcome Stake and the $50,000 Antarès Sellier USA Grand Prix during Texas Winter Series Week III, Land returned to again dominate the main arena, taking the top call with Get Go and second place with Falco V, both owned by Pinetree Farms Inc.

With the $20,000 Welcome Stake held as a Table II.2a/b, riders that produced a clear round over the Oscar Soberon-designed course had the option to jump-off immediately or following the conclusion of the first-round, 17-horse field.  

As the first in the ring, Land and Get Go showed the way to a clear round before electing to return later for the jump-off. With her second mount, Falco V, however, Land elected to jump-off straightaway, giving her an edge later when it was time to return with Get Go.

“It’s always such an advantage to have two horses, so I had already ridden the jump-off one time with Falco,” said Land, who has been partnered with both horses for several years.  “I prefer to school [Get Go] a second time and go back when I have the option to do that.”

With Falco, Land took over the leaderboard with a clear time of 42.532 seconds, but she shaved nearly two seconds off that time to stop the clock, and ultimately take the win, in 40.631 seconds aboard Get Go.

“I did the same leave out down the first line with both horses,” explained Land. “I did it on Falco, so then I felt comfortable doing it on ‘Grumbles.’ Falco is my more experienced horse of the two, so it’s always nice to have your go-to-man to show you the way. When I turned back to the last line on Falco, I didn’t quite find the distance that I wanted, so I did a leave out to the last jump on Get Go that I didn’t do on Falco, and I think that’s mainly where I made up the time.”

With Land taking the top two spots, third place with a time of 42.771 seconds went to Genevieve Munson and Charlene, owned by Precious Mettle, LLC.

“[Get Go] has just been amazing; he really loves to step up to the plate in the ring,” said Land of the 10-year-old, 17-hand Hanoverian gelding. “I’ve had him since he was 5. He’s just been an incredible horse for me. He was great as a young horse. He’s always been really reliable. He jumped his first small grand prix as a 7-year-old, and then this year he’s moved up to jump some CSI2* and CSI3* classes.”

Now, Land will set her sights on Saturday evening’s $100,000 Lone Star State Grand Prix, the finale event of the Georgia native’s inaugural trip to Katy, Texas – and no matter the outcome on Saturday, Land hopes to return to the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in the future.

“I love it here; it’s a great facility,” concluded Land. “I love the opportunity to show indoors. It’s a nice, big indoor, and I think the course designers have done a great job both weeks. The jumps are beautiful. The stalls are big, so the horses are happy. All my horses are sleeping every day; they’re laying down in the stalls. It’s been great!”

The Texas Winter Series Week IV continues on Thursday, February 24, with featured classes including a $25,000 Grand Prix, a $2,500 Texas Green Hunter 3’/3’3” Super Stake, and a $1,000 USHJA Green Hunter Incentive.

In addition to hosting the Texas Winter Series, the Great Southwest Equestrian Center is home to the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, to be held March 23- April 10, 2022. Learn more about the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show here, and visit the Great Southwest Equestrian Center’s website here.

For full results of Wednesday’s $20,000 Welcome Stake, visit horseshowsonline.com.