All eyes were on the Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Stadium on Thursday, September 3, as show jumping’s elite lined up to contest the day’s featured event. Headlining day two of international competition during the final week of the HITS Hudson Valley Summer Series in Saugerties, New York, the $65,000 CSI3* Welcome Stake continued to build on the week of impressive sport. Representing the culmination of a summer-long competition series, the HITS Hudson Valley Championship Week features the highest prize money stakes of the season in the jumper, hunter, and equitation rings. Highlights not only include a full CSI3* division, but also a World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) designation, four $25,000 hunter derbies, the Arion Sellier Equitation Classic — which includes a $25,000 trainer bonus, and the highly anticipated $300,000 ClipMyHorse.TV Hunter Classic Final. Always one to produce a strong showing, the world-ranked number nine, Mclain Ward (USA), secured top call in the $65,000 CSI3* Welcome Stake aboard Jordan Molga M.
FEI level 4 course designer Bernardo Cabral (POR) once again took to carefully crafting the track to test the 30 horse-and-rider combinations in the starting field. Utilizing the entirety of the expansive arena, Cabral’s questions repeatedly stumped each pairing until the duo of Alessandra Volpi (USA) and Madjick entered the arena six horses into the order. As the first to procure a fault-free effort, Volpi became the first to advance herself to the short course, and a jump-off was quickly secured as Jacqueline Ruyle (USA) followed suit with a clear round two horses later.
At the completion of round one, an even 10 entries were set to return to race against the clock, with the nations of the USA, Venezuela, and Egypt being represented in the remaining field. Volpi immediately set the time to beat, leaving all fences standing in a time of 38.660 seconds, which held strong for the lead across multiple entries until Adrienne Sternlicht (USA) managed to find a faster route aboard Rebelline de Kwakenbeek, shaving just over a full second from Volpi’s time to clock in at 37.210 seconds. However, one can never get too comfortable with the likes of Ward still to follow. Proving his prowess once again, Ward expertly navigated around the short course, and despite a bobble at the penultimate fence in which Ward’s leg took out a directional flag, the pair punched a time of 36.130 seconds for the win.
“We had a great end of the season in Florida and, unfortunately, he had a little bit of a health setback, so he lost a few months, and this is his third show back now,” explained Ward of Jordan Molga M, Michael Smith’s 12-year-old KWPN gelding (Etoulon VDL x HGT Dulf van de Bisschop). “We’re trying to build him up towards the American Gold Cup in a few weeks, so, this is the next step on the journey to get there.
“Adrienne [Sternlicht] had a great round, and it looked like a quick horse,” he continued. “I definitely thought I had a little more stride, though. My horse has a bit of a right drift, so both of those rollbacks to the right played into my hand a bit. I got a little lucky because I hit the flag coming home with my foot, but somehow we curled around it.”
For Ward, the win is a warm welcome on home turf after competing at the 2026 FEI World Championships in Aachen, Germany, just a month ago.
“I get to stay at my own house, which I love,” he enthused of his time at the HITS Hudson Valley venue. “For those of us that live in the Northeast, this is a brilliant situation. They made incredible renovations here a couple of years ago with the jumps, footing, and management; we have great sport here, but it’s also a wonderful place to bring horses along and develop them.”
Once again placing themselves amongst the top three, Sternlicht and the Starlight Farms 1 LLC’s nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Aganix du Seigneur x Quidam de Revel) settled for second place. Fellow Olympian Nayel Nassar (EGY) landed the third place position, just edging out Volpi for the podium placing with a time of 38.160 seconds aboard longtime partner Igor van de Wittemoere, the 18-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Cooper van de Heffinck x Orlando), owned by Evergate Stables LLC.
Elite show jumping competition at the iconic Hudson Valley venue will resume on Friday, September 4, as contenders test their skill in the $31,020 Go Rentals CSI3* Winning Round. The division eventually comes to an exciting conclusion on Saturday, September 6, with the $125,000 Core Specialty Insurance CSI3* Grand Prix. For full results, please visit www.showmanagementsystem.com.
