Premier jumper competition kicked off in the Grand Prix ring at HITS Post Time Farm on Thursday morning where a total of 28 combinations contested for the top call in the $25,000 Alliant Private Client Cup. The class is a weekly staple that preludes a full weekend of action including a weekly speed series, Saturday’s grand prix, and Sunday afternoon’s $24,500 Horseflight Jumper Classic. As the show is winding down into its final few weeks, the competition proves to be better than ever but the fast footwork of Gin Tonic 158 once again proved to be unbeatable as Sam Pegg took his second win in the event throughout the series.
Oscar Soberon (USA) put forward a challenging course worthy of the competitive field that emerged for Week VIII competition and produced a perfect 25 percentage rate of riders advancing to the jump off. Pegg bookended the short course competitors as the only athlete to advance two mounts from the first round. With his first to return, Formidable Diamant, Pegg finished on an eight-fault effort and knowledge of what to change in his plan to procure the win.
Francois Lamontagne (CAN) and Thunderbird VH Scheefkasteel Z placed 3rd in the class. (ESI Photography)
“The first horse is a little bit less experienced,” he explained, “and I thought I maybe got there too soon in the the eight-stride line, so I was a little more patient to the first jump the second time and I did one less stride coming to the combination. Then I just let him have a good gallop to the last fence.”
No stranger to the winner’s circle on the 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Graftop), Pegg returned as the final to contest with Gin Tonic 158, and laid down a blazing fast round that shaved almost a full second off of the leading time as he stopped the clock in 35.54 seconds.
“I thought it was a lovely course,” Pegg added. “It was enough of a test but nothing that wasn’t doable. Both of my horses are quite quick and smaller so I don’t have to worry about managing the stride so much and don’t have to let off of the gas.”
The class’s runner-up came in the form of Adeline Rohrbach and Lisa Goldman-Smolen’s 13-year-old Oldenburg mare (Roc USA), Rarity. The pair were the penultimate entry on the field and produced one of their best rounds to date with a fast time of 36.38 seconds to finish in reserve. Rohrbach’s enthusiasm and team spirit earned her the Finish Line Sportsmanship award for the week.
“I did a lot of her firsts with her when she was younger,” Rohrbach explained of her relationship with the mare. “She just came back to the farm and I got the ride on her again, and we kind of just fell right back into sync. She was always one of my most favorite rides and it feels great to be back on her.”
Francois Lamontagne rounded out the top three aboard his own Thunderbird VH Scheefkasteel Z with a time of 37.16 seconds.
$25,000 Alliant Private Client Cup
1. Gin Tonic 158, Samuel Pegg | Samuel Pegg
2. Rarity, Adeline Rohrbach | Lisa Goldman-Smolen
3. Thunderbird Vh Scheefkasteel Z, Francois Lamontagne | Francois Lamontagne
4. Olily Van D’abelendreef, Jonathan Mccrea | Windsor Show Stables
5. Beijing LS La Silla, David Cameron | Laura Sloey
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