International competition during HITS Championship week at HITS Hudson Valley came to a head on Saturday, September 7, 2024. The highly-anticipated highlight event of the week, the $250,000 Core Specialty Insurance CSI4* Grand Prix, crescendoed an incredible week of four-star action with athletes from across the globe venturing to Saugerties, New York, for the finale of a top-tier summer. Amidst ten nations represented in the field, it was Great Britain’s Jessica Mendoza who took the top call at the class’s completion aboard I-Cap CL Z.
Returning in the penultimate position, Mendoza was one in a sizable field of 26 horse-and-rider combinations to contest Olaf Peterson Jr.’s (GER) first round track, but one of only three athletes to produce a fault-free effort. Peterson Jr. designed a course that encouraged precision and timeliness with challenging efforts, including a triple combination and a daunting triple bar oxer, all to be completed in an efficient time allowed of 84 seconds. As preparations were made and jumps were set for the jump-off, Mendoza held the prime position as the last to return to the field. Both of the other jump-off contenders, including Abdel Said (BEL) and Samuel Hutton (GBR) navigated yet another flawless performance, but in the pole position and knowing what she had to do, Mendoza shaved over a second off of the previous leading time.
“I think I was in the best position going in because I got to see everyone in the jump-off go before me,” explained Mendoza. “I-Cap CL Z has quick foot speed, so I knew I could make it up in the turns, and I played it a little safer to the last fence, but I felt I had done all I could up to that point.”
The partnership between Mendoza and her 12-year-old Zangersheide gelding (I’m Special de Muze x Air Jordan) is a long-standing one, and the root of their success together.
“He is my pride and joy,” enthused Mendoza. “I’ve had him since he was four years old, and I just know him inside and out. I know if I turn really tight and slice a jump, he’s not going to knock it down.
“He’s a horse of a lifetime for me in the sense that we have such a strong emotional connection as well,” she continued. “He’s kind of like my best friend in a horse. He always gives it all for me.”
Said’s double-clear effort in 40.92 seconds split the difference between the two British riders and was good enough for second.
“I know my mare pretty well, but I also know she can be slow,” he explained of the 11-year-old Estonian Sport Horse mare (A Big Boy x Landfriese) he co-owns with AS Trading and Antonia Pettersson Häggstrom, Bonne Amie. “I am competitive. I want to win. It was a hard one because I have had so many times where I went too fast and I overcooked it. I knew there were only three of us, so I wanted to put enough pressure, but also not risk knocking a rail. I think Jess really timed it well. She had an excellent plan. It was really a nice jump-off by her and she deserved the win.”
Hutton stopped the timers in 42.20 seconds in the irons of the AS Sport Horses’ 10-year-old Zangersheide mare Melusina BVL Z (Mylord Carthago HN x Air Jordan Z) to round out the top three.
“My mare is naturally quite quick, but I had to plan to be on the time anyway,” he detailed of his first round plan. “The verticals were quite tall and there were a few tricky combinations, so I was really happy with how she did it. This is my first time here and I’m really happy we’ve come here.”
The only Canadian in the competition, Mario Deslauriers riding Bardolina 2, had two rails and placed 16th.
Returning to HITS Hudson Valley for the first time in many years, Peterson Jr. affirmed that he was pleased with the class result, and overall thrilled with the venue.
“For me it was a very exciting class,” he said. “Three clear rounds was good; two more could have also been nice, but we had a lot of four-falters, and I think it was a fair course. I built a million dollar class here around ten years ago, and the improvements they have made and what they have done with the venue is simply shocking!”
Full results here.
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