Langley, BC — James Chawke (IRL) had a single target at the Summer Fort Welcome for Alison Locke’s Nacara van Berkenbroeck Z. He met it.
Chawke and the talented 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding prevailed in a thrilling 12-horse jump-off in the Diamond Valley Ranch Under-10 Young Horse 1.35m. The pair crossed the timers of Anderson Lima’s (MEX) short course in 38.23 seconds. Justin Prather (CAN) and Grazie finished second (38.5 seconds), while Ayla Martinoff (CAN) rode Calloway to third (38.61).
“He’s a very nice horse, very competitive, very fast. We’ve just been stepping up a little bit to jump a bit bigger. He’s only jumped a couple 1.35m [classes],” Chawke said. “Our aim this week was to try and win this.”
Chawke has been riding the bay for about a year for Locke, who is based out of California, and has learned that his mount performs best when jumping at speed. Returning fifth in the jump-off with seven combinations behind him, he left nothing to chance.
“He’s naturally very fast. He doesn’t have the biggest stride, actually. To get the lines, you’ve got to go quite fast,” Chawke explained. “[My plan was to] go as fast as I could and just hope it was enough. [With this horse], you know that if you do a decent job, you should be very, very close to [the winning time].”
Diamond Valley Ranch U10 Young Horse 1.35m
Horse / Rider / Nationality / Owner / Faults / Time
1. Nacara van Berkenbroeck Z / James Chawke / IRL / Alison Locke / 0/38.23
2. Grazie / Justin Prather / CAN / Bradon Equestrian Ltd / 0/0 38.5
3. Calloway / Ayla Martinoff / CAN / Ayla Martinoff / 0/0 38.61
4. Aztlan / John Perez / COL / John Perez / 0/0 39.53
5. Kristalstar / Kara Chad / CAN / Kara Chad / 0/0 39.58
6. Montserrat OS / Charlie Jones / GBR / Stone Ridge Farms Ltd / 0/0 40.13
7. My Golden Anna PS / Lisa Carlsen / CAN / Gerard Developments / 0/0 41.56
8. Alouette / Christina Marlin / CAN / Jeanie Marlin / 0/0 41.56
9. Abdra Kadabra vd Heide Z / Robert Blanchette / IRL / Robert Blanchette / 0/0 42.35
10. Fallon V’gas / Charlie Jones / GBR / Stone Ridge Farms Ltd / 0/0 46.78
