McLain Ward (USA) and Noche de Ronda eclipsed a top-tier field of 45 in the $213,300 Longines Grand Prix CSIO5* on Valentine’s Day at Deeridge Farms. Fifth to return for the shortened track, Ward’s time of 37.86 seconds was enough to sneak past Billy Twomey (IRL) and Kimba Flamenco in second place, with Ward’s countrywoman Margie Engle and Dicas in third.
“Billy [Twomey] was fast, but I didn’t think it was breakneck speed, so to speak. I knew I had a couple of good [riders] behind me, but I thought, ‘Okay, don’t lose the class,’” said Ward, who opted for only the first of two potential leave-out options. “I thought from doing the seven [strides] from [Jump] 1 to [Jump] 2, that might have been enough to catch [Billy], and hopefully put enough pressure on Margie, and it worked out.”
Twomey returned second in the jump-off, laying down the gauntlet and maximizing Kimba Flamenco’s impressive foot speed to dash through the timers on 38.29 seconds.