The exciting Major League Show Jumping (MLSJ) competition during the third week of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (GLEF), presented by CaptiveOne Advisors, continued on Thursday. The first MLSJ tour, which is now entering its second week of high-class, will include eight teams of six high-performance jumpers from around the world and will feature over $ 6 million in prize money at its ten events. At the highlight event of the day at the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring, the MLSJ $ 5,000 Groulx Family 1.40m Two-Phase CSI2 *, Brits Grace Debney and Boheme De La Roque took home the main prize. The two-phase 1.40m class tested the strength and speed of 59 horse-rider combinations who entered the arena with a view to the price. The route designed by designer Olaf Petersen Jr. (GER) had long bending lines, rollbacks and a two-way fence that kept the riders busy throughout the course. In the first half of the big class, many drivers struggled to leave the rails intact in the first phase in order to advance into the immediate, speed-oriented second phase. At halftime in class, Katherine Dinan and Athos De’Elle held the top position in the leaderboard, drove flawlessly through both parts of the track and finished her speed phase in just 23.86 seconds.
After watching many other participants steer their horses over the demanding course, Ashley Vogel led Lucy in the Sky, her own 12-year-old Swedish warmblood mare, through the area with a clear effort and took over with a second phase time of 22.88 Seconds first. Vogel and Lucy in the Sky started the MLSJ CSI2 * Tour with success in Week II of GLEF, won the MLSJ $ 5,000 NetJets 1.40m Two-Phase CSI2 * with their quick manner and hoped to repeat their luck on Thursday afternoon.
Other riders tried to keep up with Vogel’s time, with Alberto Sanchez-Cozar from Mexico and Abril Hilcha Z, a 9-year-old Argentinian owned by Claudia Michel Rodriguez, coming closest to their time after crossing the finish line in 23.06 seconds. But only Debney and Boheme De La Roque, a 10-year-old Selle Francais mare owned by Temple Equestrian LLC, entered this ring so that Vogel could be challenged. Shortly before the end of the class order, Debney considered where in the ring she should be especially careful and where she should increase the pace in order to save precious seconds if she wanted to overtake her friend Vogel. Thanks to Boheme De La Roque’s nimble manner and fast walking pace, Debney was able to show a clear performance and in her second phase crossed the finish line in just 21.58 seconds.
Source: press release
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