Andres Rodriguez of Venezuela and the talented grey mare S.F. Ariantha proved too quick to beat in the $127,000 Tryon Estates Grand Prix CSI 3*, the final grand prix of the 2015 season at Tryon International Equestrian Center.

Rodriguez and S.F. Ariantha flew through the timers, securing the fastest double-clear effort of the night with a time of 43.26 seconds. Andrew Kocher, winner of the $34,000 Suncast® FEI 1.50m Welcome Stake earlier in the week, narrowly missed the mark set by Rodriguez, finishing only a tenth of a second off the pace with a time of 43.36 seconds. Christine McCrea and Wannick WH rounded out the top three with a time of 44.50 seconds while Denise Wilson and Galous recorded the fourth double clear effort of the night. 

The competitive class of 34 entries tested a difficult and expansive track designed by Oscar Soberon of Mexico, with only six entries advancing to the jump-off round. Rodriguez has been a figure of consistency throughout the past two weeks of FEI competition hosted at TIEC, earning multiple wins aboard his two top mounts Caballito and S.F. Ariantha.

“I brought my best horses here because I knew that the competition was going to be tough,” Rodrigeuz said. “I am just very happy with how this class went and I was very glad to find someone as challenging as Andy Kocher to ride against for the past two weeks. I had never met him before coming here and he really gave it a go in every single class. I was waiting for him to go tonight in the grand prix and put him in a place where he had to work really hard to get the win. That is what makes it so fun.”

Watch Rodriguez’s winning jump-off ride…

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Rodriguez and Kocher finished an incredible week of competition at TIEC, as both riders battled for supremacy in each of the major FEI classes hosted throughout the competition week at Tryon Fall 6. Rodriguez and S.F. Ariantha finished second behind Kocher in this week’s $34,000 Suncast® FEI 1.50m Welcome Stake, while Kocher and Uppie de Lis have continued to add top finishes to their flourishing partnership.

S.F. Ariantha is truly captivating to watch in the ring as the scopey 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Corland x Uriantha) tackles the largest grand prix courses with incredible ease while Rodriguez guides from the irons. The gifted mare will serve as Rodriguez’s Olympic hopeful mount as the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, rapidly approach.

“She’s only 10 years old and she doesn’t have all of the experience yet. Quality-wise I think she is hard to match with any other horse in the world. She just needs more experience to get to the next level and that is what we’re hoping to get before the Olympics next year,” commented Rodriguez.

Danielle Burns, Rodriguez’s groom was honored with the Groom’s Initiative Award, which is presented to the groom of the winning horse and rider combination for each grand prix class hosted at TIEC. Burns, who has worked with Rodriguez for a number of years, rejoined the team before the 2015 Pan American Games hosted in Toronto, Canada, where Rodriguez and Darlon van Groenhove earned an individual silver medal.

“I have a lot of great people working for me and right before the Pan Am Games we knew that we needed to find a special person for that job because it was going to be hard, especially at the top levels. I reached out to Danielle to see if she would be interested in coming back and we managed to make everything work,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve had a great go. You need someone like Danielle behind your horses because I’m on the horse for an hour a day and she’s with them for the other 23 hours, so at the end of the day, she spends the most time with them and that is why she is so important on our team.”

Final Results $127,000 Tryon Estates Grand Prix FEI CSI 3*:

1. S.F. ARIANTHA, 2005 Dutch Warmblood mare by Corland x Uriantha, ANDRES RODIGUEZ (VEN), Robert & Sofia Castro: 0/0/43.26 

2. UPPIE DE LIS, 2001 NRPS gelding by Andiamo x Lorraine, ANDREW KOCHER (USA), BTS Entertainment & Sales: 0/0/43.36

3. WANNICK WH, 2003 Dutch Warmblood stallion by Heartbreaker x Elseroodnoot, CHRISTINE MCCREA (USA), Candy Tribble: 0/0/44.5

4. GALOUS, 2002 Irish Sport Horse gelding by Touchdown x Huff & Puff, DENISE WILSON (USA), Blue Gate Farm LLC: 0/0/45.33

5. ROSIERE VESQUERIE, 2005 Selle Francais mare by Narcos II x Java de la Vesquerie, LAUREN TISBO (USA), Tequestrian Farms LLC: 0/4/43.75

6. CADE, 2002 Belgian Warmblood gelding by Heartbreaker x Tridentina, ABIGAIL MCARDLE (USA), David McArdle: 0/4/44.5

7. ELOUISE DE MUZE, 2004 Belgian Warmblood mare by Nabab de Reve x Vodka Orange de Muze, RICHIE MOLONEY (IRL), Equinimity LLC: 4/77.42 

8. CAPALL ZIDANE, 2004 Dutch Warmblood gelding Concorde x T, RONAN MCGUIGAN (IRL), Ronan McGuigan: 4/77.97