Thirty-nine of the world’s best international showjumping athletes earned their spot to contest Saturday night’s $400,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Los Angeles CSI5*-W, presented by Lugano Diamonds, and a chance at a brand new title. The World Cup qualifier made its debut at the Lugano Diamonds Split Rock Jumping Tour’s (SRJT) inaugural Santa Anita CSI5*-W in partnership with 1/ST, bringing showjumping to Santa Anita Park for the first time since the 1984 Olympic Games. It was a performance for the home crowd as the jump-off delivered electrifying rounds, ultimately saving the best for last and making a winner out of the American Olympic duo, Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque (Zandor Z x Kannan), owned by Eric Navet and Signe Ostby.
The event drew an impressive list of athletes, with fifteen countries represented in Saturday night’s feature event. Anderson Lima (BRA) designed a 16-effort track that delivered a crowd-pleasing eight clear rounds to make for a competitive jump-off. Ashlee Bond (ISR) was the first to deliver a clear ride with Donatello 141, followed by Harry Charles (GBR), Shawn Casady (USA), Kaitlin Campbell (USA), Vanessa Mannix (CAN), Daniel Bluman (ISR), Cian O’Connor (IRL), and lastly, Cook.
Bond opened up round two full throttle across its entirety, setting an incredible pace of 40.44 seconds, however two rails came into play, leaving the door open for the rest of the jump-off contenders. Campbell would be first to deliver the coveted double-clear with Castlefield Cornelious, doing so at a more conservative pace of 49.17 seconds. Mannix would follow to edge ahead in 46.31 seconds aboard Kingston to overtake the lead with three riders remaining. Bluman and the horse he co-owns with Abigail Wexner, Corbie V.V. (Cornet Obolensky x Chacco Blue), flew down the final line in front of the VIP tent towards the ingate in eight strides for a new clear-round time-to-beat of 42.87 seconds. O’Connor, partnered with a newer ride owned by Karlswood Partners, Iron Man (Charisma Z x Mr Blue), stayed on the safer side of some of Bluman’s bold maneuvers to slide just behind with a time of 44.68 into second place. Cook had one task at hand and he put it all on the line with his trusty Olympic mount, “Cara.” The Selle Français mare’s massive stride helped him down the lines with ease, topping Bluman’s seemingly unbeatable lead by over a second and a half in the winning time of 41.19 seconds. Bluman would settle for second place moving O’Connor into third.
“With Caracole, I have such confidence in her speed and her ability to turn that it was just about staying on our plan and not trying to get too far over…it was just about doing what I know she can do,” Cook reflected of his jump-off with the horse that delivered two clear rounds at the 2024 Paris Olympics to help the U.S. Show Jumping Team earn Team Silver.
He continued of the event, “Everyone that put the show together – to have the vision for this show, the facility, – it’s awesome. It’s a great, complete show – from the tiniest things like you can walk to the hotel, we have a lot of room to ride in the back, a very good size warmup ring, the atmosphere is really great. It’s a wonderful and historic setting – one that deserves showjumping. I’ve wanted this type of investment both in time, people, and money, into California for so long.”
“The origin of bringing showjumping to our tracks came with Derek [Braun, STJT President] a while ago, about five years back,” said Nicole Walker, vice-president of The Stronach Group. “I always thought that [Santa Anita Park] would be good for the layout and the history of the venue…It’s hard to beat the mountains in the background and all of the history that the track has. His team and our 1/ST team working so hard together came together very well and I’m thankful for the collaboration and a lot of hard work that went in from many people.”
Bluman’s podium finish helped him maintain his lead atop the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ North American League Standings while Cook earned valuable points as athletes look to qualify for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in Basel, Switzerland in April 2025.
Saturday night also hosted the M. Michael Meller Style Award, which was presented by past winner Erynn Ballard to Ireland’s Conor Swail for exemplifying the best style of riding, while maintaining a sportsmanlike composure. M. Michael Meller’s Doc Spirit Award, awarded to the horse that best exemplifies the heart and athleticism necessary to be competitive at the highest levels of showjumping, was aptly named to Cook’s winning mare, Caracole de la Roque. The final day of the first-ever Santa Anita CSI5*-W will feature the $40,000 Sir Davis Winning Round CSI5* before SRJT continues to its final event of the calendar year with the Split Rock Fort Worth, December 11-15.
Results here.
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