PrintWhile Laura Kraut and Cedric have amassed a spectacular international record together, including a team gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Bejing, China, there’s one type of class they haven’t won all that much: grand prix.
But Cedric jumped to the top of the $150,000 CN U.S. Open Grand Prix CSIO**** today, March 7, in Wellington, Fla., edging out Danny Boy and Beezie Madden, who took second.
“I think this is only the second grand prix win of his career, because normally we’re jumping in trials or Nations Cups,” said Kraut.
The class also served as the U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping World Equestrian Games Trial No. 5, with first-round faults only counting toward the standings. Nicole Shahinian-Simpson’s relatively inexperienced partner Tristan jumped brilliantly to add nothing to her score and finished the trials on top of the scoreboard with 9 points. They took third in the class. Winning Nations Cup teammates, Canadians Mac Cone on Ole and Beth Underhill on Top Gun took two rails apiece in the second round to finish fourth and fifth.
Guilherme Jorge set a tough track for the 56 competitors, and after the drag break 26 horses in, no one—including show jumping powerhouses McLain Ward on Sapphire and Eric Lamaze on Hickstead—had found a clear way around the course.
But Tristan and Shahinian-Simpson found a path, not touching a rail on their way to a clear round, which paved the way for five more riders to join them for the jump-off.
Cedric came back second last for the second round, which included a few tight roll backs and a long gallop to an in-and-out. Kraut let the gray gelding gallop in a way she never had before, and he took her up on the offer.
“I’m positive that’s the fastest I’ve ever gone on him—I never let him go like that!” she said. “I almost lost control of him after the double. He was freaking out, thinking, ‘What is she doing up there?' "
Madden couldn’t have been happier with her round aboard Danny Boy, which helped her finish in a tie for third in the overall standings. She praised her partner’s improvement over the two weeks.
“I was a little disappointed with the first two trials that were at night; he was a little tense there,” she said. “But he rose to the occasion after that. He was good on the field [in Trial No. 3], Friday [in Trial No. 4] he had a solid round, even a little fresh. And today he was excellent.”
Trials winner Shahinian-Simpson praised rising star Tristan and said that the process of the trials had helped him improve by leaps and bounds
“I’m thrilled with his progress and the experience through the trials, we’ve really learned a lot about each other,” she said. “I had a lot of confidence that he’s a very, very scopey horse and brave. I knew it would be a matter of the technical elements; I knew we could do a lot of different things to suit the course.”
The leaders after Trials No. 3 and 4, Richard Spooner and Cristallo, finished the Selection Trials in second, having picked up two rails this afternoon.
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| Final Overall Standings.pdf | 115.62 KB |
