Friday, Jul. 4, 2025

Marlou Warms Up With $150,000 Grand Prix of Charlotte Win

Not many riders would canter into the ring for a grand prix jump-off thinking, "I can have 3 time faults?"

But Kim Frey's jump-off round in the $150,000 Grand Prix of Charlotte was a little bit different.

On Marlou, Frey was the last to go in a three-horse jump-off in the featured event of the Charlotte Jumper Classic (N.C.), April 8-10. McLain
Ward and Sapphire had blazed the trail with a fast round, but one rail down. And Laura Kraut had pulled up Anthem halfway through her jump-off trip.
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Not many riders would canter into the ring for a grand prix jump-off thinking, “I can have 3 time faults?”

But Kim Frey’s jump-off round in the $150,000 Grand Prix of Charlotte was a little bit different.

On Marlou, Frey was the last to go in a three-horse jump-off in the featured event of the Charlotte Jumper Classic (N.C.), April 8-10. McLain
Ward and Sapphire had blazed the trail with a fast round, but one rail down. And Laura Kraut had pulled up Anthem halfway through her jump-off trip.

All Frey had to do was leave all the jumps up and nip in under the time allowed, which she just barely did, to claim the top check. Frey wasn’t too disappointed about not having to floor the accelerator, since the class was her last prep before the Budweiser FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas, April 21-24.

“I wasn’t going to run anyway, because she’s not as fit as I’d like. This was a big push for her to jump three days in a row and get those jumping muscles strong,” said Frey.

Frey had clinched her qualification for the World Cup last fall, winning the CSI-W classes at the Lincoln American Gold Cup (Pa.) and the Capital Challenge (Md.) with Marlou.

In so doing, Frey had the luxury of letting Marlou sit out the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.), and she didn’t show the talented chestnut mare at all in Wellington in February or March. Marlou’s first grand prix this year was the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa (Fla.) on March 27, where they had 4 first-round faults.

“I bided my time. She’s a very versatile horse; she can win indoors in the smallest ring and outside in the biggest field. She was in an indoor frame of mind, so I stuck with it,” said Frey.

“There were a number of times that I had to really think about tying my hands, because it was hard to wait. I didn’t do very many grand prix in Florida [with other horses], and it’s nerve-wracking waiting. She just hacked and jumped little gymnastics.

“That’s why my horse was a touch unfit, and I was a bit rusty here,” Frey continued “This is really my warm-up show.”

This will be Frey’s first World Cup Final, although she’s represented the United States on several Nations Cups teams. She’s very confident about her chances on Marlou, an 11-year-old, Dutch Warmblood mare (Jus des Pommes–Hippy).

Frey knew when she found Marlou three years ago that she had the ability to excel at the top level. “If you jump her once, you know. There are very few horses who feel like that,” she said.

And Marlou’s sheer ability outweighs her somewhat unusual style over fences. “She’s got a long front end–she’s not high with her knees. So at the verticals, I have to be slow and very slow with my body so that she has time to get her front end up. But she has a very powerful hind end. At the oxers, she’s dynamite, but it took me a long time to learn how to get her balanced for the verticals. But her heart is bigger than anything,” Frey said.

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Kraut and Ward were the top two qualifiers in their league for Las Vegas, ahead of Frey, Anne Kursinski, Schuyler Riley, Lauren Hough, Georgina Bloomberg and Candice King. “McLain and Laura and I and all the riders going are excited. It’s an individual event, but we’re going with a team attitude,” said Frey.

One Eye On Las Vegas

Ward and Kraut also had Las Vegas in their mind’s eye during Charlotte, and finishing second and third assured them of their readiness.

Ward, first to jump off, pulled off a daring inside rollback turn to an oxer, which Sapphire made a big effort to clear. But later in the jump-off, the front rail of another oxer fell, giving them a quick time but 4 faults.

“McLain really called on his horse when he made that inside turn. There are very few horses in the world who could have cleared that. But it got Sapphire a little bit at the jumps after that,” said Frey. Kraut had a worried few moments when she pulled Anthem up in the jump-off. She looked to be making a bid, and Anthem was jumping very well, but then it went wrong.

“He jumped that one fence in the jump-off so big, and when I landed and turned, he stumbled really hard,” said Kraut. “I knew he didn’t feel right, and then he had the next jump down, so that was it.

“[Veterinarian] Dr. Steve Engle thinks he just jolted his back, and it sent him into a back spasm. It was the most peculiar thing. His back and hips were quivering and shaking, and he was walking kind of sideways, just like I do when I hurt my back. But he got back to the barn, and Steve adjusted him, and instantly, he was better. I got back on him and rode him, and he was perfect. I was very relieved.”

Despite that hiccup, Kraut is looking forward to the World Cup Final. “He’s been very consistent, so I feel very confident going,” she said.

Course designer Steve Stephens built tough tests for the riders in Charlotte. Round 1, on Saturday night, saw only 10 of the original 34 jump clean, while 10 more finished with 4 faults. For Round 2, Stephens built some tough lines, including a very scopey oxer-oxer-vertical triple combination. Frey, Ward and Kraut were the only double-clears. Defending champions Beezie Madden and Judgement chalked up a clear first round, but then fell victim to the triple combination in Round 2.

Only five riders other than Frey, Ward and Kraut jumped clean in Round 2. Gregoire Oberson of Switzerland, finishing his American tour, which included the CN Samsung Nations Cup in Wellington, Fla., in March, followed up a disappointing 12 faults in the first round with a brilliant clear second round.

Canadian Eric Lamaze and Tempete V/H/ Lindehof, bound for Vegas, had 8 faults in Round 1 but a clear second go. Eric Flameng, a Belgian but based in Canada, also warmed up for the World Cup Final with trips of 4 and 0 faults.

Amateur riders Danielle Torano and Cayce Harrison turned in impressive clean second rounds after four-fault scores in the first round. Other World-Cup bound riders didn’t have such good fortune. Lauren Hough and Casadora had a stop and a rail in Round 1 and then lowered two rails in Round 2. Candice King’s Coco Cabana stopped once at the last fence in Round 1 and then stopped twice in the middle of the triple combination in Round 2, eliminating them from the class.

But Great Britain’s Michael Whitaker and Portofino looked on track for Vegas, with 4 faults in each round.

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You Have To Win

Kent Farrington and Madison might not have had the best luck in the grand prix, collecting 8 faults in Round 1, but Madison’s owner, Alexa Weeks, made sure the barn’s trip to Charlotte from Wellington, Fla., wasn’t for naught. “This morning Kent said to me, ‘You have to win. We came all the way here–you’ve got to do it,’ ” Weeks said.

She rose to the challenge, guiding Riane to the fastest trip of an 11-horse jump-off in the $25,000 amateur-owner jumper classic.

“I went in thinking that I wanted to win, and once I walked the course, I thought it was possible. When I came out after the jump-off, I thought I might have been a little on the slow side, but I got lucky,” Weeks said.

The crucial spot in the jump-off was a very tight rollback turn to a wide oxer. Many riders paid for a time-saving turn when the back rail of the oxer fell.

“That was actually where I got my luckiest. I whipped her right back on it, and she has so much heart, I just clucked to her and she popped up and cleared it. Not many horses would have done that,” Weeks said.

But Riane has quickly proven that she’s up to the task. Farrington found the 8-year-old Belgian-bred four years ago, from dealer Javier Salvador in Belgium. Farrington developed Riane through the lower-level ranks, and Weeks took over the reins in March 2004, showing in the amateur division.

While she enjoys winning herself, Weeks is just as pleased to see how well Madison and Farrington have done this spring in Florida. They won the $25,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series Round VI and then took second in the $100,000 CN U.S. Open Jumper championship.

“A lot of people ask why I don’t want to show Madison myself, but it’s so much more gratifying to see Kent have a horse who’s really competitive and a real contender in the big classes. It’s more rewarding than winning myself,” said Weeks. “Kent has been such a great help. I went from barely placing to winning, thanks to him.”

Aimee Aron capped her Charlotte experience with a big win in the $25,000 junior jumper classic as the only clean first round. The title just added to the accolades she’s collected on her venerable Jamaica.

Aron has had Jamacia for six years, having purchased her as a children’s jumper. “But we’ve just kept moving her up, and she just kept winning. She’s got more heart than you’ll find in any horse,” Aron said.

Now 13, the Dutch-bred mare has earned her right to be choosy. “I think now we’ll just pick some special occasions to show her. She loves to show, but  she’s proved herself many times over,” Aron continued. “When it comes time to retire her, I think we’ll try to get some foals from her.”

And Jamaica might just take up the role of leadline pony for Aron’s younger sister, Annabelle, now just 9 months old.

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