For James Chawke and the 8-year-old gelding Nandos S, the climb up the ranks has been swift—and successful.

One week after stepping up to the 1.40m height for the first time and winning the Bradon Equestrian National Grand Prix at the Summer Fort Welcome, Chawke and the promising gelding returned to Thunderbird Show Park for the Summer Fort Classic and did it again—this time at 1.45m in Saturday’s CSI3* tbird Winning Round.

The Winning Round format brought the top 10 combinations back in reverse order, with the lead changing hands with nearly every round. Third from last to return, Braden James and Hermes Des Carmilles set the bar, shaving two and half seconds off Jeffrey Fields leading time on Noble. Thursday’s winners Francisco Lomelin and Con Amore fell just short of the mark, slotting ahead of Fields, while Chawke and Nandos S (Van Gogh x Numero Uno) set a new one entirely, dropping the time by another second and a half.

The pair stopped the clock at 40.31 seconds—a double-clear effort that secured the win.

“He is very quick naturally,” said Chawke. “Obviously Braden was fast. I wasn’t sure if I could get 10 [strides] one to two and once I got that I figured I could continue and do the eight [strides to the next] and then just sort of stay on it for the last few jumps.”

For the Irish rider, the victory is another milestone in a carefully managed development program for the young horse, owned by Vanessa Mannix.

“He’s not that much experience. Last Friday was his first 1.40m. Wednesday was his first 1.45m. So we’re just trying to teach him to jump bigger and also be efficient and a bit handier.”

Chawke praised the horse’s natural athleticism and scope. “I mean, he’s wildly talented. He’s a very big step. He’s quite quick in the air. He is careful and he jumps high, but he always keeps going across the jump, which I think helps you land with a bit of foot speed.”

The win caps a remarkable two-week stretch for the partnership at tbird, highlighted by three wins, as Chawke continues to develop the future grand prix contender.

International competition continues Sunday at tbird with the CSI3* ATCO Cup Grand Prix 1.50m. Tickets are available exclusively at tbird.ca/tickets.

$10,000 CSI3* Winning Round 1.45m