Georgina Bloomberg heard the talk after walking the first round of the course Conrad Homfeld set for the $100,000 Lexus NHS Jumper Championship CSI-W, held under the lights the evening of Dec. 3 during the National Horse Show in Wellington, Fla. “Everyone was commenting on how small the course walked, and that it wasn’t big enough for the money and the fact that it was a World Cup-qualifier. I, personally, thought that for the first time out on the big field here in Florida, and under the lights you never know what’s going to happen, that it was big enough,” said Bloomberg.

She proved right, as only two of the starting field of 29 jumped clean over the first round–Bloomberg on Riviera and McLain Ward on Quick Star II Z. Particular trouble spots were a tough line along the far side of the ring of a plank vertical, then five tight strides to an oxer-vertical-oxer triple combination and the final in-and-out, a vertical-vertical combination set just four strides after a Liverpool oxer. Alison Firestone was the only other rider to not incur jumping faults over the tests, but her one time fault in the first round left her third.

So, the stage was set for the jump-off, with Bloomberg first in the ring. She cantered around the twisting course, posting a clean jump-off in 42.48 seconds. “I just wanted to go for the clear round. I knew that if McLain was going to go clean, he was going to beat me. It would have been great to win, but getting the World Cup points counted the most,” said Bloomberg. Ward made short work of the jump-off with Quick Star, setting a rapid ground-covering pace and coming home clean in 38.85 seconds.

Bloomberg stood ninth in the World Cup qualifying standings coming into this class, so the 17 points she garnered for second will help her vault into the top seven which will travel to Las Vegas, Nev., for the FEI World Cup Finals in April 2005. “That’s my main goal this year,” said Bloomberg. After her phenomenal success at the Metropolitan National in New York, N.Y., three weeks ago, Bloomberg concentrated on her schoolwork at New York University. “The horses shipped down here a few weeks ago, and I’ve been in school and not riding, so I came here with no expectations. It was a nice surprise to do so well,” she said.

Ward has had his own successes this year, with a team Olympic silver with the superstar Sapphire and multiple wins with Goldika. But with his two main mares turned out for a well-deserved rest, he turned to the young 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood Quick Star for the National. He was thrilled that she rose to the challenge. “I didn’t see Georgina go in the jump-off, but I know that her horse is a big jumper. My mare is like a rabbit across the ground; her legs go at about a million miles an hour, so we’re quick across the ground,” he said. Ward’s sponsors, the Harrison family of Double H Farm, bought Quick Star II Z last year, from Laura Kraut.