Denver grand prix fans can thank Joie Gatlin for suggesting to Richard Spooner that he make the trip to Denver, Colo., to compete in the $45,750 Jack Daniels Grand Prix, held Jan. 15, during the National Western Stock Show.

“Joie told me it was a great grand prix,” said Spooner, of Aqua Dulce, Calif., who claimed the top two spots with two of his three mounts, Ace and Robinson. “I thought it was marvelous. The crowd was top-notch, [with] groups who obviously love the horse show and the horses. The ring was nice and big and the course not too big, but challenging, for the first grand prix of the year.”

Of the original field of 23, only seven advanced to the jump-off. Spooner said he was pleased with both horses in the first round. Longtime partner Robinson, the gray, 19-year-old, Hanoverian gelding with more than 30 grand prix wins to his credit, delighted the crowd in characteristic tongue-hanging-out style.

In contrast to Robinson’s been-there, done-that manner was the class’ eventual winner, Ace, who was competing in his first grand prix. Spooner rode Ace, a 9-year-old, bay Holsteiner owned by Spooner and Chris and Sarah Bardis, of Pebble Beach, Calif., to another first-round clear.

Karen Cudmore, winner of the Stock Show grand prix the past five years, brought two horses–Ocelot and Southern Pride–back for the jump-off round. Cudmore won the 2006 Jack Daniels Grand Prix on the 11-year-old, Holsteiner stallion Ocelot.

First to go in the jump-off, Cudmore and Ocelot set the bar high, putting in a lovely clear and fast round, stopping the timers in 39.49 seconds.
But Spooner proved why he’s been nicknamed “the master of faster” when he and Robinson answered the challenge with an even faster clear round (37.57 seconds), launching them to the lead surrounded by a round of applause.

Spooner was more than pleased with Robinson’s round. “He was as fast as he needed to be for the win,” he said of the horse he has called his “once-in-a-lifetime” horse.

The pair held onto their lead until only Spooner and his other jump-off horse, Ace, remained. To the crowd’s amazement, amid tight rollbacks and angled oxers, Spooner and Ace put in an even faster and more exciting clear round, more than two seconds faster than Robinson’s time, to clinch the win and the sash of roses. “Robinson made it easy for me, mentally, because we only had ourselves to beat,” Spooner said.

With a total of eight grand prix-level horses in training back in California and 92 grand prix wins to his name, Spooner has high hopes for the season to reach his 100th grand prix win. He also hopes to qualify to compete for the U.S. teams in the Samsung Super League Nations Cup series this summer.

Even though she was dethroned from her winning streak, Cudmore still credited a lucky charm a friend from Colorado gave her for her past and future success at the Stock Show grand prix.

“She gave it to me exactly five years ago and said I can only use it at Stock Show,” said Cudmore, who also operates a substantial Holsteiner breeding farm, Heartland Farms, in Omaha, Neb., with husband Blair Cudmore. “I think it still works because I still had a great show with all the horses. I just love coming to Stock Show. It has the best arena, the best footing, the best crowd. It’s just Colorado–everyone is very horse sport enthusiastic.”

In existence since 1982, the grand prix at the National Western Stock Show included an increase in prize money to $45,750. The field of 23 competitors included local Coloradoans Charlie Dennehy, Paul Rohrbach, Karen Stone and John McConnell.