McFarlane Breaks Ladies’ Hold On Woodside Grand Prix At Golden Gate Classic

During the third and final week of the Woodside Summer Circuit, Duncan McFarlane and Mr. Whoopy (Simone Coxe, owner) finally broke the winning streak the ladies had held the first two weeks. At the Golden Gate Classic (July 7-11), only four horses jumped clear rounds over Hector Loyola’s technical course in the $30,000 Golden Gate Grand Prix. In addition to Duncan, Mandy Porter and Lamarque (Wild Turkey Farm, owner), Lindsay Ramar with her Dance and Jump, and Jenni McAllister aboard Glados (Marnco, owner) contested the top prize.

The jump off rewarded acute turning ability, speed, and scope. Porter blazed the way in an outstanding time of 47.117 but a dropped rail left the door open for the other three riders. Lindsay took a shot, but two rails and a time of 54.601 relegated her to third. McFarlane knew he had to keep the track tidy, but leaving all the rails up was critical.
 
“I knew Mandy Porter was the one to beat,” Duncan explained. “I watched her go, and when she dropped a rail, I knew I just needed to jump clean.” He managed both with a clear round in a time of 50.135. Jenni was last to go, but luck was not on her side. A light rail early on and a mis-step at the tight rollback to the vertical left the pair in fourth. However, Jenni was the only rider during the three weeks to qualify for the jump-offs in all the Welcome Stakes and the grands prix with the clean jumping Glados.

Duncan was very happy with Mr. Whoopy’s performance. “He’s a feisty little devil. He has a lot of antics, and he’s very boisterous,” Duncan said of Coxe’s eight-year-old stallion. With his victory in the $30,000 Golden Gate Grand Prix, Duncan edged out both Rachel Fields and Jenni McAllister for the CWD Leading Jumper Rider Award.  
Mandy put in, “I went into the jump off on a young horse in his third grand prix. I wanted to be fast, because there were some fast riders behind me, but I didn’t want to be too risky because Lamarque is green. I was so happy with him; he was amazing.”

Mandy chose the Golden Gate Classic because she feels it is a good show and a good grand prix for her young horses. “It’s an introductory level grand prix, but challenging enough for the horses to learn and grow from. Plus, I always like showing in Northern California. It’s a fun group.” Having grown up in Danville, Mandy has spent a lot of time in Woodside.

While Duncan broke the ladies’ winning streak in the grand prix, Hope Glynn revisited her domination of Friday night’s $2,500 USHJA National 3’ Hunter Classic. For the third time this year, Hope smoothly rode to the top spot in a definitive win. Swingtime was her winning mount this week, the same horse she won this class on at the Woodside Spring Preview. Late in the order of go in the first round, Hope showed she meant business when she took all four of the higher option jumps and earned a score of 88 that propelled her to the top of the leader board, where she stayed.  When asked about her secret to winning these classes, Hope responded, “I think my success has been due to a little luck, a little talent and some great horses. There were some really tight inside turns available in the handy round, and Swingtime being a previous jumper made that easier for him to get the 10 bonus points.”