Stories don’t get more incredible than this…  McLain Ward won the $75,000 Budweiser Grand Prix of Devon tonight.  Given that it’s his third victory in the class, it wasn’t that remarkable of a night.  After all, Ward has won lots of grand prix classes.

But he’s never before done it on a horse he’s sat on for mere minutes. 

That’s right—Ward turned in the winning performance in convincing fashion on the ultimate catch ride, Danielle Torano’s mount, Capitano.  Danielle was all set to ride Capitano in the Dixon Oval in Devon, Pa., tonight, June 1.  But as she cantered around to warm up, she had a funny feeling.  “I knew I wasn’t focused enough to go in there and jump that course,” she said.  The reason for her lack of concentration and the niggling feeling in her stomach?  Danielle is three months pregnant.

As she dismounted, Danielle and husband Jimmy Torano turned to their good friend, Ward, and semi-jokingly asked if he wanted to ride Capitano.  At that point, the horse was five away in the order of go.  Ward decided to take a shot and said yes.  “I knew that McLain was the only one who would even consider doing this,” Danielle said. 

Ward hopped on the lanky bay horse, and jumped a few jumps, then cantered into the ring to tackle Olaf  Peterson Jr.’s tough first-round course.  To the roars of the crowd, and the audible cheering of Danielle, they jumped clean, joining nine other horse-and-rider combinations in the jump-off.

Coming back seventh to jump off, Ward didn’t choose to canter around quietly and safely on his new ride.  Instead, he went absolutely flat out, completing a tight roll-back inside turn to the Budweiser oxer that no-one else attempted.  The risks paid off as he stopped the timers clean in 37.62 seconds.  It would be a time no-one else could match, and ended up being almost three seconds faster than the second-placed time.

“I felt like I had nothing to lose, really,” Ward said.  “So, it took a lot of pressure off.  I knew the horse from watching Danielle ride him, and he’s an honest, scopey, quality horse.  I think maybe they should buy me dinner tonight.”

Ward had just one rail in the first round with his scheduled ride in the class, Goldika.

A little less dramatic, but no less thrilling, was Max Amaya’s second place on Church Road.  He rode the cheeky bay gelding to a clean jump-off round in 40.61 seconds.  “I really just wanted to go as fast as I could,” Amaya said.  “I tried to do all the inside turns.  I watched Laura Chapot go, and I know how fast she is.  I never beat her.”

But this time, he did beat Chapot.  She’d been the first to put fast and clear together in the jump-off, as the fifth to go.  But her time of 40.933 seconds was a little off the mark.  “I thought I was conservative in a couple of places,” Chapot said.  “He just wasn’t quite as sparky as he usually is,” she continued about Little Big Man, the feisty and incredibly athletic chestnut gelding.  They finished the night in third.

The drama of the night was highlighted by an ominous storm that lurked in the sky behind the showgrounds, blackening the sky and showing rolls of thunder and flashes of lightening.  Luckily, the rain held off until the very end of the class. 

The jump-off field was an interesting mix of old veterans, like Ward, and new talent, such as Paige Johnson and the 16-year-old Addison Phillips.  Johnson led off the jump-off with a heart-breaking rail at the last vertical in a time of 41.61 seconds. 

Anne Kursinski and Roxana looked set to blaze the winning trail, and the flashy bay mare put in phenomenal efforts over the fences.  But her enthusiasm backfired when she kicked out over the Budweiser oxer.  She unseated Kursinski, who ended up over the mare’s neck.  She had to circle to regroup before the next fence, incurring a 4-fault score in 48.509 seconds. 

Michael Walton and La Roccco Junior collected 8 faults, and the crowd wondered just how much more exciting this jump-off could get.  Phillips answered the question when she galloped in on Trezebees and proceeded to shave all turns as tight as could be, and pull off an inside turn between the standards of two jumps—dodging potted flower decorations.  Their flat-out gallop to the last vertical, however, was their downfall, as Trezebees caught a hind toe on the top plank, dropping it and leaving them with 4 faults in 37.989 seconds for fifth place.  Phillips was just coming off a phenomenal Devon Junior Weekend, where she earned the Best Child Rider on a Horse title.

Last year’s Devon Grand Prix winners, Kent Farrington and Madison, rolled a rail off the second fence, but stopped the timers in a time of 37.916 for sixth place.  Mary Lisa Leffler and Gerona also had an early rail, in 47.426 seconds.  Last to go—Mark Leone on Pinkata de Longpre—made sure to pick up a check for the class by going clear slowly and deliberately for fourth place.

The grand prix was an exciting conclusion to a day when the Dixon Oval was filled with the more sedate classes of the hunter breeding divisions.  Kenny Wheeler held the reins on Spanish Spear for the flashy chestnut gelding’s repeat of his 2005 Best Young Horse title.  Matt Collins and Junior Johnson were handlers who had brilliant days as well, and Pennsylvania horseman Sam Manno claimed the leading handler title.

Yesterday, May 31, the professional hunter divisions concluded, and Scott Stewart and Louise Serio ended up in a tie for the grand hunter champion with the second year horse Music Street and the regular working champion Gray Slipper.  Stewart also picked up the first year green tricolor on Federal Hill, and the regular conformation championship and reserve with Good Life and Chopard.  Stewart earned the leading hunter rider title.  But Tim Goguen poked his head in there to claim the green conformation hunter championship aboard the flashy black gelding Boulevard Deir.

Devon action continues on Friday and Saturday, June 2-3, with all the amateur-owner jumpers and hunters, as well as more open jumpers.  Check in here the evening of June 3 for a recap of all that action.