Clear efforts were hard come by in the second round of Saturday’s CSI4* Winning Round. Ten pairs chartered a clear path in the first round of Gregory Bodo’s 1.45m course, but only one—Charlie Jones and Casirado 3—managed to repeat the feat.
The British rider and 11-year-old Holsteiner stallion (Casall x Diarado) stopped the timers in 48.05 seconds to take top honors. Second place—with the fastest time of the day for the second day in a row—went to Canadian Olympian Amy Millar, who finished with four faults in a lightning-quick 45.02 seconds on veteran partner Christiano. Hillary Scott (AUS) and Clarima rounded out the podium, also with four faults, crossing the timers in 47.13 seconds.
The Winning Round format saw the top 10 combinations from the initial round return for a second round, an all-or-nothing dash against the clock. Jones stuck to his tactical plan with the flashy bay, relying on his horse’s stride to make up for his lofty jump and slower footspeed.
“My strategy was to do my own plan, honestly,” said Jones. “He is a really good jumper. He’s very, very careful and you just got to do right by him and put him in the right place and I knew he’d jump clear.
“He wouldn’t be the quickest naturally, but you got to jump the jumps [to win], haven’t you?”
No other pair managed to match their double clear effort.
“I turned quick enough back to fence number three and that put a little bit of pressure on—a lot of people had that back rail down.”
Jones and Casirado 3 made their international debut in March at Florida’s Ocala Winter Series. tbird is only their third FEI competition and first FEI win. Jones predicts it won’t be their last.
“Mandy Porter and Beth Bolan have been very generous in giving me the opportunity to work with him. He honestly jumps so many clear rounds. I’m super excited for the future with him,” he continued. “He’s got all the scope. He’s very careful. So if we can just keep working on in-between the jumps, I think he’s going to get there.”
The Canadian Premier concludes Sunday with the CSI4* Grand Prix at 2pm. Tickets are available exclusively at tbird.ca/tickets.
$31,100 CSI4* Winning Round
Horse / Rider / Nationality / Owner / Faults / Time
- Casirado / Charlie Jones / GBR / Risen Eq Holdings LLC / 0/0 48.05
- Christiano / Amy Millar / CAN / Future Adventures / 0/4 45.02
- Clarima / Hilary Scott / AUS / Hilary Scott / 0/4 47.13
- Cape Town / Rowan Willis / AUS / Patricio Pasquel / 0/4 47.71
- Independence TN / Katherine Huffstutler / USA / Katherine Huffstutler / 0/4 47.8
- Lola / Hilary Scott / AUS / Hilary Scott / 0/4 48.64
- ZF Chacco Rio / Katie Laurie / AUS / Carissa McCall / 0/4 52.61
- Esi Jet Set / Carly Stevens / CAN / Susan Stevens / 0/5 53.39
- Herme des Carmilles / Braden James / CAN / Stump Lake Ranch and Cattle Co Ltd / 0/8 45.17
- Vaillant de Belle Vue / Tali Dejong / USA / Tali Dejong / 0/12 45.64
Photo credit: Kim Gaudry for tbird.
