Bond Jumps Closer To World Cup Final

She and Cadett 7 finish first in $50,000 World Cup qualifier at HITS Thermal.

It’s been quite a winter so far for Ashlee Bond. The young Hidden Hills, Calif., professional is batting .500 in grand prix competition, winning three of the six classes she’s entered on the HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal, Calif.

Her most recent win was the most important, a victory in the $50,000 World Cup qualifier, part of the HITS Desert Circuit IV Horse Show, Feb. 17-22. That victory put her and Cadett 7 into a tie for second in the West Coast World Cup points race. Bond is looking good for an invitation to the Rolex FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas in April.

Bond had to chase down Harley Brown and Cassiato for the victory. Brown and the big gray gelding had stopped the clock in 48.48 seconds. But Cassiato is a huge horse with an immense amount of scope and a very long stride, and Bond knew the time was within her reach aboard Cadett 7, who is handier. Her plans almost came a cropper when her horse balked on a tight rollback to a liverpool, but Bond stayed cool.

“I knew that if I gunned him, I would have the rail,” she said. “I just let him do his little hopping up and down and then proceed along. I knew I could make up the time somewhere else.”

In the jump-off, course designer Aki Yllani asked riders to gallop the length of the ring directly toward the in-gate, an open chute leading out into the night. The last fence was not a solid oxer that would back the horses up but an airy vertical to which they might pay little attention with the exit right in front of them.

“I was very lucky to walk the course with Richard Spooner,” Bond said. Spooner told her to aim the horse at the official’s stand and the readout board before turning toward the last fence, which by then would be only two or three strides away. “Ride toward the clock so you don’t fall into the course designer’s trap,” Bond said.

The strategy worked. Cadett 7 focused on the jump, left it standing, and broke the timers in 45.23 seconds to take the win.

Bond purchased Cadett 7 last June from Aurora Griffin, a client of Ilan Ferder’s in Los Angeles. Bond had nothing but praise for her new horse, a chestnut gelding by Cor de la Bryere. They competed on the gold-medal team at the Buenos Aires Nations Cup (Argentina) last fall.

“He’s just so smart, and he’s just right there waiting for me to give instructions,” she said. “He’s not one of those horses that’s fighting against you. He’s working with you every step of the way to get a clean round.”

Brown was perfectly happy to be second. His total of 89 points puts him on top of the West Coast standings for the World Cup.

Brown, a trainer in Arroyo Grande, Calif., rides for his native Australia. All he needs to do to qualify for the finals is match the third-best score in the West Coast league. Being in first place gives him considerable confidence in making the cut.

“It would be fantastic,” said Brown, for whom the finals have been a lifetime goal. “It would be absolutely wonderful.”

Brown, one of Cassiato’s co-owners with the Oak Park group, is thrilled with how well the former dressage horse is going. “He’s been the model of consistency,” he said. “He’s a wonderful athlete, wants to go clean all the time. He’s just a very good horse.”

Loving The Game Again