Defending champions Justin Prather and Grazie reclaimed their title in the 1.25m ‘Seize the Day’ Speed Derby, in memory of Vicki Gourlay, Saturday at the West Coast Classic. We caught up with the Calgary, Alberta-native to learn more about their partnership.

Tell us about Grazie!

She’s a sassy mare. She’s funny. I actually don’t ride her except for in the ring. She either lunges or my girlfriend [Paula Lopez, daughter of Colombian Olympian Rene Lopez] rides her. I never get on her back unless it’s a show or I absolutely have to.

Oh, interesting. How did that come about?

In winter of 2024 I noticed that the less I rode her the happier she seemed. And then this winter, Kim, who takes care of the horses, broke her arm. I was kind of on my own and so a lot of the time, I just didn’t have time to ride and it was easier to lunge. And we noticed the mare is happier. We don’t really need to school her. She doesn’t like to flat. So we just keep her moving and keep her fit and keep her happy. And then I get on and go in the ring and we do our thing.

You don’t ride Grazie in a martingale. Is that part of your less is more strategy?

I have arrived at a point in my life where I think that you don’t put more tack on unless you have a reason to. [Early in our partnership] I had her in a running martingale and I hit it in the air over an oxer in the warmup and it sent her off the rails. She was not happy. She got too careful, so I just stopped using it and I never put it back on.

She looks quite sensitive.

She is and I have man hands. It’s hard for me to be light. I had to work very hard to learn to be incrementally strong, as opposed to just strong. I bounce back and forth between a hackabit and a hackamore with her, depending on how she’s feeling. When I jumped this derby last year—which I won but with one down—she went through the hackamore and I couldn’t get set up to the skinny, so I decided to use the hackabit this time. That way I can balance her four strides back and then let go again and get up to the fence.

You were three seconds fastest! What was your strategy for this derby course?

The track did not have a lot of options, except for the two that the course designer laid out. And they were kind of horse dependent. My only secret weapon was that inside turn back to number eight that I walked and nobody else did. I knew I could get it done. Grazie is really good. You can gallop pretty hard and as long I set myself back, I don’t need to do much work to set her up those last three strides. She’s clever enough on her own.

Did you have a moment where you thought, maybe I should speed check to the last jump?

Truthfully, I all but closed my eyes. Not literally, but I think sometimes when you have those big, long gallops down to a single jump, especially one that’s a little bit impressive, the worst thing you can do is look for it. So you just gallop and fuzz your eyes and hope for the best.

Grazie sounds like a character in the ring. Is she more conventional in the barn?

She’s definitely a character. That’s probably the best way to put it. She wants all the attention until you come give it to her and then she’s not interested. Like once you’re inside the 10-foot window, she has no part of it until you’re actually in contact with her and then she’s happy to spend time with you. She has her own special paddock at my place. We turned the backyard of the house into a nice big grass turnout that’s basically just for her—she just goes out there all day and hangs out, then comes into the barn at the end of the day. She’s such an independent lady. She’s the Beyonce of the barn. Yeah, all the single ladies—that is her.