Langley, BC – May 26, 2022 – FEI competition commenced Thursday as competitors brought forth their mounts for the opening day of Major League Show Jumping (MLSJ) at Thunderbird Show Park. Winning the first CSI5* event, the $1,000 Two Phase 1.40m CSI5*, was Tanner Korotkin (USA) and NE – President Van Koekshof.
Eighty competitors came forward in the $1,000 Two Phase 1.40m CSI5* to familiarize themselves and their horses with the atmosphere and take a shot at the track designed by Canada’s Peter Grant. The course offered a total of 12 obstacles, the first six of which represented the first phase before riders advanced to the speed phase for the final six obstacles. The short course presented opportunities to take risks and be quick, including two sharp rollback turns and long bending lines. Early in the order, Korotkin and his newest mount, a 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, cruised around the speed phase.
“He’s a newer horse,” remarked Korotkin on NE – President Van Koekshof. “I’ve only had him for about two months now. He’s still 9 years old, and the plan was just to get him more confident going at a quicker pace. We just cruised around; he was jumping great. He’s in great form for the rest of the week and it was super round. We just turned out to win it.
“He’s got his own attitude, his own way of going,” continued Korotkin. “But he’s very, very scopey. We have high hopes for him to do some very big classes in the future, hopefully get him into some bigger grand prix along the way. For right now we’ll keep him in the speed classes, but he’s got all the scope in the world and all the talent in the world, so we’re just going to keep going with him and see what happens.”
Korotkin, age 21 and brand new to the MLSJ tour on team Spy Coast Spies, recently acquired the ride from British rider Ben Maher. Since October 2021, Maher piloted NE – President Van Koekshof to 11 FEI starts with a 27% clear round rate, according to JUMPR App. With Korotkin in the irons, the horse’s clear round rate has improved already.
Korotkin himself has leapt into the world of professional show jumping since his impressive junior career came to a close, jumping up to 1.60m with a 34% clear round rate over 225 international starts. At the 1.60m level, Korotkin boasts a 50% clear round rate across 14 starts, indicating good odds for the competition to come at tbird and throughout the MLSJ season.
Friday’s schedule of CSI5* events will feature the $8,800 Maui Jim 1.45m Speed CSI5*, the $5,000 MarBill Hill U25 1.40m and the $73,400 1.50m Jump-Off CSI5*, all previewing the thrilling competition to come Saturday evening with the $200,000 MLSJ Team Competition CSI5* and Sunday’s $218,000 MLSJ Grand Prix CSI5*.
$1,000 Two Phase 1.40m CSI5*
Place / Horse / Rider / Nationality / Owner / Faults / Time
1. NE – President Van Koekshof / Tanner Korotkin / USA / / 0/0 38.65
2. Fasole Du Seigneur / Alexis Sokolov / USA / Hot Horses LLC / 0/0 38.99
3. Nadal Hero & DB / Conor Swail / IRL / Conor Swail / 0/0 40.50
4. Cozumel / Patricio Pasquel / MEX / Patricio Pasquel / 0/0 40.84
5. Oak Grove’s Carlyle / Daniel Coyle / IRL / Ariel Grange / 0/0 42.06
6. Beneficial / Alicia Lewis / CAN / Alicia Lewis / 0/0 42.66
7. Picador / Jordan Coyle / IRL / Elan Farm / 0/0 44.21
8. Coquelicot VH Heuvelland Z / Sean Jobin / CAN / Sean Jobin / 0/0 44.77
9. Chato Lou / Kent Farrington / USA / Haity McNerney & Amalaya Investments / 0/0 44.80
10. Dreamin Blue / Sam Walker / CAN / Tal Milstein / 0/0 44.90
