Rachel Schnurr Has Big week at Equestrian Festival

Rachel Schnurr won two in a row last week during the Equestrian Festival at Caledon Equestrian Park, claiming top prize in both the $10,000 Modified Grand Prix Presented by Sprucewood Tack Shop and the $25,000 Grand Prix presented by Leon’s.

Schnurr beat out a starting field of 10 on Sunday (July 30) in the $25,000 Grand Prix – Presented by Leon’s riding PRINCE GARBO. The pair won in exciting fashion with all five entries making the jump-off going double clear.

Watch her winning round below:

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Kim Farlinger and Stanley Stone led things off in the second round with an impressive time of 36.87. Tottenham’s Erynn Ballard followed that up with an equally impressive run that saw she and her ride Extra B shave 0.15 seconds off Farlinger and Stanley Stone’s time to move into first place.

That time stood until Schnurr and PRINCE GARBO – a 10-year-old Swedish Warmblood owned by Sara Tindale – posted the eventual winning time of 35.93 seconds. Jeff Brandmaier went last in the jump off posting a third-place finishing time of 36.85, moving Farlinger into fourth by 0.02 seconds.

“I watched the very first girl (Kim Farlinger) go, she’s the one who beat me on Friday and I thought to myself there’s no way I’m beating that (time),” said Schnurr. I I think on Friday I started a little slower than I did today, and I think what really helped me is getting to the first jump a little quicker because I always enter the timers a little slow. So that was my go-to strategy today.”

“I just got (PRINCE GARBO) in January. I haven’t had him very long but he’s a super-fabulous animal. He wants to win just as badly as I do, maybe even more, so he’s fantastic and I love him,” added Schnurr following Sunday’s win.

The Grand Prix win was Schnurr’s second big win in as many days after also coming out on top in the $10,000 Modified Grand Prix – Presented by Sprucewood Tack Shop on Saturday.

Saturday saw Schnurr and her ride Daedalos Z taking home the red ribbon after besting a starting field of 14 in the Modified Grand Prix. Both the Modified and the Grand Prix were held in the Jumper 1 ring,overseen for the week by Canadian course designer Dave Ballard.

Schnurr and Daedalos Z – a nine-year-old of Zangersheide breeding – advanced to the jump-off along with seven other competitors. The pair beat out runners up Rachel Cornacchia and Valkyrie de Talma by nearly a half a second.

Natasha Smith Avery and Beam P rounded out the top three, with Jim Ifko and Vera de la Roque placing fourth followed by Jacqueline Steffens and Euro’s Chin Up in fifth.

“(Daedalos Z) is one of my own actually. I’ve had him since he was about four and he’s nine now. It’s taken a little while to get him to this point, but it’s exciting to actually see him do well now,” said Schnurr.

“He’s actually quite slow, so yesterday I was really trying to be efficient through my turns because he’s got a big stride but can turn really tight. He went in and turned like a professional yesterday, so that was exciting,” she added.

Schnurr and PRINCE GARBO also placed second in Friday’s $10,000 Open Welcome – Presented Maaax Equine Feed, losing by less than half a second to Farlinger and Stanley Stone.

As on Sunday, Farlinger, Schnurr, Erynn Ballard and Brandmaier battled it for top prize. All four made it through to the jump off and like Sunday all four went double clear.

Farlinger and Stanley Stone, last to go in Friday’s jump-off. The pair capped off an exciting second round with a flawless run after both Schnurr and Brandmaier posted times shaving nearly a full second off the rest eight-competitor field ahead of them.

Stanley Stone is owned by Sher-Al Farm in Orangeville.

Erynn Ballard and Extra B would place fourth in the class, followed by Farlinger and her second entry, Concello, rounding out the top five.

There were some notable performances in the hunter ring on the week also, headlined by the pairing of Shae-Lynn Beiersdorfer and Charleston Z in the $3,000 TRM Good as Gold Hunter Classic on Sunday.

The pair beat out 17 other competitors for the red ribbon with a two round total high score of 173 points. Harlan and Nicole Cullen placed second, while Grace Goldberg and Cohiba rounded out the top three.

Beiersdorfer and Charleston Z, who hail from Ottawa, also had a great show in the jumper ring winning the weekend’s CET Medal qualifier and the OHJA Medal qualifier, both held Saturday in the Grand Prix Ring.

Winning the CET Medal, Shae-Lynn Beirsdorfer aboard Charleston Z. Photo Credit: Ben Radvanyi Photography.

Leanna Lazzari and Cherrybrook Just Blue By were champions in Green Pony Hunter Division, while Becky Adams and Fynydd Ayr won the Junior/Amateur 1.10m Jumper. Kaitlin Davis and Bold Ambition were champions in the Pony Jumper Division. All three Championship awards were sponsored by Ride Every Stride.

Kathleen Anderson and Viewpoint won the Adult Amateur 18-35 Hunter Division, sponsored by Greenhawk.

Up next at Caledon Equestrian Park will be the Summer Festival from Aug. 2-6. The weekend will feature the 3rd annual OHJA Super Weekend. Friday will also see the $10,000 Open Welcome – Presented by Greenhawk as well as a $25,000 Grand Prix on Sunday (Aug. 6). The $1,500 LongRun TB Hunter Challenge will also run Sunday in the Meilsoe Hunter Ring.

Visit caledonequetrianpark.com for the full list of upcoming events and last week’s results.

$25,000 Grand Prix Presented by Leon’s (July 30)
1) PRINCE GARBO/Sara Tindale/Rachel Schnurr
2) Extra B/Looking Back Farm/Erynn Ballard
3) Caliana/Knightwood Stables/Jeff Brandmaier
4) Stanley Stone/Sher-Al Farm/Kim Farlinger
5) Stardust/Allison Zlepnig/Michelle Vandal

$3,000 TRM Good As Gold Hunter Classic (July 30)
1) Charleston Z/Shae-Lynn Beiersdorfer/Shae-Lynn Beiersdorfer
2) Harlan/First Blue LLC/Nicole Cullen
3) Cohiba/Grace Goldberg/Grace Goldberg
4) Berlena/Claire Goldberg/Claire Goldberg
5) Kadence/Laura Laperriere/Laura Laperriere

$10,000 Modified Grand Prix Presented by Sprucewood Tack Shop (July 29)
1) Daedalos Z/Rachel Schnurr/Rachel Schnurr
2) Valkyrie de Talma/Eventyre Farms Ltd/Rachel Cornacchia
3) Beam P/Susan Perreault-Parker/Natasha Smith-Avery
4) Vera de la Roque/Eventyre Farms Ltd/Jim Ifko
5) Euro’s Chin Up/Nancy Wetmore/Jacqueline Steffens

OHJA Medal (July 29)
1) Charleston Z/Shae-Lynn Beiersdorfer/Shae-Lynn Beiersdorfer
2) Walhalla/Taylor Bird/Leanna Lazzari
3) King Bee/Louise Brackett/Sophia Tauro
4) Bombay/Erin Ugolini/Erin Ugolini

CET Medal (July 29)
1) Charleston Z/Shae-Lynn Beiersdorfer/Shae-Lynn Beiersdorfer
2) Bombay/Erin Ugolini/Erin Ugolini
3) Walhalla/Taylor Bird/Leanna Lazzari
4) King Bee/Louise Brackett/Sophia Tauro

$10,000 Open Welcome Presented by MAAAX Equine Feed (July 28)
1) Stanley Stone/Sher-Al Farm/Kim Farlinger
2) Prince Garbo/Sara Tindale/Rachel Schnurr
3) Caliana/Knightwood Stables/Jeff Brandmaier
4) Extra B/Looking Back Farm/Erynn Ballard
5) Concello/Sher-Al Farm/Kim Farlinger