It didn’t take long for Doug Payne (Rougemont, NC) to appear right back on top of the leaderboards at Tryon International Equestrian Center after his successful journey to Tokyo, claiming first, third, fourth and fifth in Friday morning’s $5,000 Horseware Ireland Welcome Stake. Payne and Quantum Leap, the 2011 RPSI gelding (Quite Capitol x Report to Sloopy) he owns in partnership with wife Jessica, were one of only two pairs to go clear: Merideth Bryans (Newborn, GA) and Guidam Sid, her own 2007 Czech Warmblood gelding of unknown breeding, scored second place on a time of 38.753 over the Skip Bailey (Wellington, FL) course design.
Payne and Quantum Leap won on a jump-off time of 34.402 seconds, while Payne collected third with Botanja, the 2006 Warmblood mare (Salvatore x Juta) owned by Courtney Alston, by way of a four-fault round in a time of 68.667. Quintessence, the 2011 Holsteiner gelding (Quinar x VIctoria’s Secret) owned by Jane Dudinksy, earned fourth place on a time of 68.69 and four faults, while Getaway, Olivia Wall’s 2007 Oldenburg gelding (Contendro x Unknown), collected fifth place on the same faults and with a time of 73.314 seconds.
Payne made a last-minute decision to include Quantum Leap in the Welcome Stake, and revealed that the 5* Eventing athlete typically jumps fences a bit smaller than the ones that he conquered for the win. “He went to Kentucky for the 5* in the spring, and he’ll be headed to Maryland for the new 5* this fall. It was kind of a last-minute decision to throw him in this class. He’s been jumping great, so I figured I’d put him in the Welcome Stake here, and it’s actually bigger than he’d be jumping normally in Eventing.”