A few days before traveling to Green Cove Springs, Fla., for the Jacksonville International show, Jan. 17-21, Hidden Creek’s Quervo Gold was barefoot, footloose and fancy free.

Margie Engle had given him quality down time. “He’s had almost three months off, with no shoes on. We’ve been riding him, but he’s mostly just been going for trail rides. He’s been enjoying a bit of a break,” Engle said.

After Quervo got new shoes he didn’t miss a beat, topping the $75,000 Glen Kernan Golf And Country Club Grand Prix CSI-W at Jacksonville.

“The first night I did him, he felt a teeny bit rusty, but today he felt super,” Engle said. Two nights before the big class, Quervo had pulled two rails in the $25,000 Green Cove Springs welcome class, which Laura Kraut and Anthem won.

Kraut looked to be poised for a double victory, as she was the last to jump-off in the World Cup class. Engle and Quervo had put in a neat, efficient clear jump-off round in 36.72 seconds. And Kraut’s Anthem is a horse with a definite turn of foot. But when the rail fell at just the second fence of the jump-off, Kraut’s hopes for two top checks fell with it.

The seven-horse jump-off turned into quite the race over Dave Ballard’s short course, with serpentine turns in the first half and finishing with a long gallop to a single oxer.

Laurie Bucci led off the line-up with a clear round in 38.90 seconds on the big-galloping Quidam’s Ramiro.

Then, Ken Berkley took the stage with the gleaming, gray gelding Carlos Boy. Berkley really shaved the turns on the serpentine line between the first few fences, and then he got lucky as Carlos Boy rattled the top rails. “I turned a little sooner after the first jump than I should have,” Berkley said. “I turned and realized that I was already [approaching the second vertical] on an angle. So, I had to add a stride and be patient to it. It wasn’t really my first choice of distance, and it slowed me up a little.”

Berkley made up the lost time with a very dramatic gallop to the last oxer, leaving the ground from what could be diplomatically termed a “gap” of a distance. “The last jump was the most forward of all of them. I just dug in and ran and hoped for something, and he came up with it, which was nice,” he said.

Berkley’s clear round in 38.75 seconds took the lead briefly, but Engle and Quervo made short work of that mark as the next to go. Engle sliced the turns and Quervo soared over the jumps as they stopped the timers 2 seconds faster than Berkley.

“I was really pleased with him. I took a shot with him in the jump-off,” Engle said. “Speed is his weakest point, and today is close to the fastest I’ve gone with him in a jump-off, and he handled it really well.”

Both Carlos Boy and Quervo are big horses with lofty jumps, known more for their scope than their foot-speed. “I have a slow horse–there are no two ways about it,” Berkley said. And the next four horses were all speedy. But they all felled timber on their way around, and Engle ended up on top, with Berkley second and Bucci third.

Engle hopes that the World Cup points she accumulated will help her earn a berth at the FEI Rolex World Cup Final in Las Vegas, Nev., in April. “I needed World Cup points because we missed the first couple of horse shows, being over in Europe [for the World Equestrian Games]. We were a little behind. I know my owner really wants to go to Vegas, and I love Vegas too, so hopefully this will help us get there,” she said.

After Jacksonville, Engle stood tied for fourth in the World Cup standings, with 63 points. The top seven riders in the East Coast standings qualify for Vegas, and three qualifiers remain. Berkley’s Jacksonville performance put him into a three-way tie for 14th, with 33 points.

Vegas is also on Berkley’s mind, but qualifying isn’t a given for him. “He’s an amazing horse. I think this is going to be a good year for him. I’ve taken it really lightly with him. I run a big business, and in order to go to the World Cup Finals, you have to go to the qualifiers. I can only get to about half of the qualifiers, so I’m behind,” he said.

“I would like to go [to the Final], but it’s probably not Carlos’ ring, since it’s so small. You need a hot potato for a ring like that, with those big jumps. But I guess if he qualifies, I’ll have to give it a whirl,” he added.

Berkley, with his partner Scott Stewart, runs a large training and sales business, specializing in hunters. “The hunters are what makes my money and the jumpers are my pleasure,” he said.

He’s had the ride on Carlos, a 12-year-old Holsteiner, for three years. “Carlos is probably the nicest, easiest-riding horse around a grand prix. He’s got a huge stride, and he never spooks,” said Berkley. “He’s got massive scope. You can’t ask for anything more.”

Engle was pleased with Quervo’s start to the season. She rode the big chestnut gelding, 13, to help the U.S. team take the bronze medal at the 2006 World Equestrian Games (Germany).

“He’s far exceeded everything I’ve asked of him. He won the WEG trials and no one had really even heard of him. They almost didn’t even let me ride him in the trials because they didn’t know him. But he did fantastic last year,” she said.