International show jumping returned action culminated on Saturday, August 23, 2025 at the iconic HITS Del Mar Horsepark in Del Mar, California. As the premiere event of the FEI CSI2* week, the $90,000 Maria Mendelsohn/Douglas Elliman CSI2* Grand Prix grabbed the attention of riders and spectators alike at the venue’s Grand Prix Grass Field. The event is one of many featured events in an action-packed schedule featuring elite hunter, jumper, and equitation competition, and boasting a World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) designation. Battling a field of top athletes at the premier West Coast venue, the anthem for Ireland ultimately rang loud at the class’s completion as James Chawke and Daido van’t Ruytershof Z led the way in the afternoon’s victory gallop.
With a field of 33 horse-and-rider duos to challenge, Canadian FEI Level 3 course designer Meghan Rawlins set an elegant and delicate worthy of the ten countries represented in the international field. Rawlins’ questions kept the riders guessing, with nine pairings cut short by a single downed rail on course and another entry ticking just over the allotted time. At the class’s completion, a total of eight talented combinations passed Rawlins’ test, with seven returning to turn on the speed over the short course.
As the time-to-beat dwindled, rails came at the expense of speed, and only four of the returning riders managed to produce a double-clear performance. The final podium showed off the strength in the international field, with three different nations represented amongst the top three. Piloting Corsari Equestrian, LLC’s Napoleon van den Dael, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (For Passion D’ive Z x Eros Platiere), Melody Liu (USA) represented the home nation as she delivered a clean round with a time of 42.38 seconds for third place. Australia’s Matthew Williams shaved just under a second off of Liu’s time to snatch second place with NKH LLC’s 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding NKH Vittorio S (Q-Verdi x Rheinsberg) in 41.48 seconds. Despite their best efforts, none in the field came close to catching Chawke’s time of 39.70 seconds, which secured the win. (Top Canadian was Ali Ramsay, ninth aboard Conrado 12.)
“My horse is very quick, so I always know I have a good chance in the jump off,” Chawke explained. “Our plan went how I wanted it to and it was fast enough today.
“She really seems to like this horse show,” he continued of Jan Van Alken’s 11-year-old Zangersheide mare (Dieu-Merci van T&L x Bamako de Muze). “We came here in May and she was good in the grand prix, and she was good here last year as well. I’ve had her for about a year and a half now, and she’s just a really cool horse. I will plan to show her again next week, and then she’ll have a bit of a break and do a couple of three or four stars towards the end of the year.”
International competition for the week concluded with the afternoon’s event, but will resume on Wednesday, August 27, 2025. National hunter, jumper, and equitation competition continues through Sunday, August 24. For complete results, please visit here.
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