The $175,000 Chrysler Classic Derby is hard enough to win. In the 15-year history of the class, only 9 horses and riders had jumped clear. That was until today, however. Today, Schuyler Riley accomplished the mammoth task of jumping the long course, complete with numerous daunting natural obstacles, clean. It’s just her luck that Rodrigo Pessoa picked the same day to accomplish the same task.

But no-one could have scripted the jump-off that followed between the two. Riley and Opus Sept went in first, and had a quick time, but Opus grabbed a rail behind on his way around. It looked as though Pessoa would have the class in the bag, keeping Riley, last year’s winner, from repeating.

But Pessoa didn’t look to be going for the careful clear round as he urged Richmont Park to a quick pace and shaved the corners. Just as it did yesterday in the big class, the speed caught up to him, and Richmont Park pulled rails at the second and third fences. Pessoa pulled up, knowing he was beaten, and Riley got to begin celebrating.

“When I left the door open for him, I definitely thought I would be second to Rodrigo for sure,” said Riley. “I thought he would go for the slow careful clear. But I was talking to Rodrigo in the line-up in the awards ceremony, and he said that he couldn’t decide whether to go slow and try to beat me by being clear, or go fast and ensure that he’d be faster even with a rail. It’s a hard game of strategy when there’s only two in the jump-off.”

But Riley’s strategy paid off in spades, as she and Opus Sept collected the top check. Riley acknowledges that Opus has a special affinity for the Derby course, though she can’t really understand it. “He’s actually a really big chicken outside the ring. He spooks at everything. I don’t know why he’s so brave in the ring, and loves this class so much!” she said.

The reason clean rounds are so scarce in the Chrysler Classic Derby is because the course, which is identical every year, is very long and demanding, with many natural obstacles that many of these horses don’t see much. The course is 985 meters long (twice as long as a typical grand prix course) and has 23 jumping efforts. The fences include the open water, a double of Liverpool verticals, an oxer over a dry ditch, a small bank combination, and an oxer over a liverpool.

The truly remarkable fences, however, are the big bank and the Devil’s Dyke. At fences 11ABC and 12, riders have to gallop around a big hill, jump a vertical going up the back of the hill, and arrive on top. There, they have to negotiate another small vertical, and then slide down the massive bank. A tall, airy white vertical awaits them just two short strides after the bottom of the hill.

Immediately after the bank comes the Devil’s Dyke, a closed combination. Riders have to jump in over a vertical of brown rails, then negotiate one stride steeply downhill to another brown vertical over a dry ditch. Then, they take another stride steeply uphill to another brown vertical. Horses get an eyeful here, and frequently have the A and C elements down after becoming unnerved.

The A element of this fence was the only fault for Canada’s Jill Henselwood, who rode Special Ed to third in the Chrysler Classic Derby with her fast four-fault round. She also claimed the title of North American Tournament champion from her performances all week. The C element of the Devil’s Dyke was the only mistake for Richard Spooner and Hilton Flight, who finished in fourth. And Quriel and Norman Dello Joio jumped faultlessly through the Devil’s Dyke, but had just a foot in the water for their four faults and fifth place.

Earlier in the day, Markus Beerbaum scored his first major win on the International Ring at Spruce Meadows by topping the $72,500 Sun Life Financial Reach For The Sun Grand Prix with Constantin. He topped a seven-horse jump-off for the title with a blazingly fast round.