There was a lot more on the line than just bragging rights when Bjorn Ikast came to the ring for the jump-off of the $60,000 High Prairie Grand Prix, the finale of the Colorado Summer Classic, July 24-28 at the Colorado Horse Park in Parker, Colo.

Ikast and Braveheart had won the $40,000 High Prairie Grand Prix the previous week. Were he to win again with the same horse, he’d receive a $25,000 bonus. The bonus offer, which would pay out $100,000 if the same horse/rider pair won all three of the summer circuit grand prix events, had never been claimed.

Ikast came close in 2005 when he won two of the three classes. That was on two different horses, however, and the bonus went unpaid. The Danish native, who splits his time between Texas and Mexico, was determined that the outcome would be different this time around.

Five had gone clear over Michel Vaillancourt’s difficult course. Urbanus and Charlie Jayne were first to jump off, and set the pace with a clear round (40.15 seconds). Mexican Olympian Antonio Maurer was up next on Banco Del Bajio Romanne. They gambled to the last jump, doing the eight strides instead of the safer nine, and had the fence down.

That brought Ikast to the ring. He opted for the more conservative line to the final oxer. “I did the nine strides to the last jump instead of the eight,” he said. “I felt it was a little too fast for the others, and they flattened out.” Braveheart broke the timer beam in 39.57 seconds, and Ikast had the lead.

All Ikast could do then was wait. Nomograaf and Arizona amateur Allison Kroff thrilled the crowd with a blazing trip, stopping the clock fully 21⁄2 seconds faster than Ikast had. Nomograaf did indeed flatten out at the last jump, however, and had it down.

That left only Charlie Jayne and the young Gangsta. They, too, beat Ikast’s time, but also had a rail down. Ikast got to lead the victory lap and collect quite a payday.

Ikast was pleased not only for himself but also for the horse shows. The bonus has always been out there as a lure but seemed an un-attainable goal. Now that someone has won it, he thinks that more riders will be encouraged to try. “I’m happy for High Prairie that they finally gave away the bonus,” he said. “It gets peoples’ hopes up for the future.”

And while Marilla van Buren had been sponsoring Braveheart for the last two years, Ikast bought the horse this summer and now owns him outright, so he got to collect all the winnings.

While he didn’t walk away the winner, Jayne wasn’t at all disappointed with his first visit to Colorado. The young professional, who trains with his father Alex, finished third, second and second in the three grand prix events of the Colorado series with Urbanus. He also won the leading rider award, edging out Ikast by a little more than $400.

Jayne was particularly pleased with Gangsta, who finished fourth in the $60,000 class. “He’s just 7,” said the young Illinois professional. “We’ve only had him about three weeks.”

Gangsta was the runaway winner of the speed derby and seems to love going fast. “As long as I’m waiting for him, he’s going to pick up his legs,” Jayne said. “The faster I go, the more careful he is.”

That’s The Winner
Katie Rosenzweig and her Who’s That not only earned the amateur-owner, 18-35, circuit championship in the four-week High Prairie series, but they also capped the series with a win in the Colorado Classic amateur-owner hunter classic.

Who’s That had never even been in the show ring when Rosenzweig bought him seven years ago, and she’s brought him up through the ranks. “He was very talented, and we got along really well,” said Rosenzweig, who was in training at that time with Kathy Johnson. “We thought we’d give it a shot with a green horse.”

Rosenzweig grew up in Arizona but is now living in Texas, attending Southern Methodist University and riding with trainer Matt Cyphert. She chose SMU for several reasons. “It was someplace that was far enough away from home, but not too far,” she said.

She also knew she could bring her horses. “It was a good place to ride,” said Rosenzweig. “I knew I was going to go to a good barn.”

Jennifer Wallen took her Coffee Break to the win in the Marshall & Sterling adult amateur hunter classic and earned the adult amateur hunter, 18-35, championship. Wallen, who trains with Cindy Cruciotti, had not done as well as she wanted the previous week. She was glad things turned around for her at the Colorado Summer Classic.

“We redeemed ourselves this week,” she said. “We just gelled. Everything came to-gether, and it was just a wonderful, wonderful week.”

Wallen, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Denver Children’s Hospital, always blames herself for any poor performances in the ring. Coffee Break, she says, is never at fault.

“He’s a solid citizen. It doesn’t matter where I put him, he’s always there,” said Wallen. “It’s just whether I am or not.”

Another student of Cruciotti’s took the blue in the Marshall & Sterling Children’s Hunter Classic. Elizabeth Savoy rode Q, a bay gelding she leases from Cruciotti, to the win.

“He’s just really cool. I can’t even describe him,” said Savoy, 16.

The High Prairie shows are a hometown event for Savoy, who lives in Parker, Colo. She thrives on the variety of showing in the hunters, equitation and jumpers. “It’s just so much fun, and there are so many different things to do. I just like all of it,” she said. “It’s like a big adrenaline rush.”

Eliza Philpott decided to try something new and came home first in the junior/amateur equitation classic.

Philpott, who trains with Jennifer Rhodes, had to choose between the equitation classic and the hunter classic. “I just decided to give my horse a break from the hunters,” said the Castle Rock, Colo., teenager.

The equitation classic was contested on the huge derby field and gave riders a chance to open up a bit more than the much smaller hunter arena. “There were some challenges, some options for inside turns,” she said. “It was a nice, gallopy course.”

Speed Demons
Kelley Buringa bought L’Amoure a year and a half ago with equitation wins in mind. But the gray, Polish Warmblood gelding has surprised her with his prowess in the jumper ring as well, and they topped the low junior/amateur owner jumper classic. “Little did I know he could do this,” she said.
 
Buringa, who trains with Amberlee Wentz, blazed around the jump-off course several seconds faster than anyone else in the field and was easily the winner. Asked about her penchant for speed, Buringa, of Golden, Colo., grinned. “We weren’t here to be second,” she said.

Faster was the key also for Paige Coles, who rode her Jackie O to the top of the Marshall & Sterling Children’s Jumper Classic, a class she’d also won the previous week. Coles thrilled and terrified the audience by leaving out a full stride to the last jump.

“It happened both weeks, actually,” said the West Palm Beach, Fla., teenager. “She just saved me, I guess. She’s a good girl.”

Coles, who trained at the show with Ikast, said her mare always does well in Colorado. “She wins a lot out here,” said Coles. “She likes the weather.”

Not many people find a winning jumper mount at a lesson barn, but Lindsay Udelson kept an open mind and did just that. She rode Serena to win the Marshall & Sterling Adult Amateur Jumper Classic.

Udelson saw something in Serena she liked. “She was just doing the younger kids over the little jumps, three-foot, going around,” said Udelson, who trains near her Texas home with Daniel Bedoya. “We took her to a show in March, she won a few classes, and I decided to keep her.”

Udelson, 20, is a student at Austin Community College. Some young riders walk away from the horse sports once they start college, but not her. “I started when I was 8 or 9, riding my cousin’s horses and ponies around all day when I’d go visit for the summers,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine not doing it, I like it so much.”

After 15 years in the jumper ring, Continental B is still winning. He and Lila Sessums sped to the win in the junior/amateur-owner jumper classic. Sessums and the veteran Thoroughbred—once Dennis Murphy’s grand prix horse—were chasing Allison Kroff and the very speedy Omar Shariff.

Sessums tried to concentrate only on her own job, not on who was ahead of her. “I try not to let that be a part of my thinking, because if I go and watch people and get it in my mind that that round can’t be beat, then I’m a loser,” she said.

Continental B, 20, knows how to jump with the minimum of effort and the maximum of efficiency. “He’s like a cat,” said Sessums. “He knows his job.”