Saugerties, New York – August 30, 2025 – An elite field of international riders took to the Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Stadium on Saturday as FEI competition came to a head under a picture-perfect sky. Headlining a week of exciting CSI2* sport, the the $80,000 Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix CSI 2* represented the culmination of top show jumping during the Hits Hudson Valley VII. The popular spring and summer series features a plethora of activity, with hunter, jumper, and equitation classes for all levels, and highlights including multiple FEI-rated weeks, as well as two highly-coveted World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) weeks. Battling a stacked field of horse-and-rider combinations, 19-year-old Mia Bagnato (USA) expertly navigated Ballyoskill Big Bucks through the course to take home the pair’s first FEI grand prix win.
With 31 impressive contenders making up the starting list, Mexican FEI Level 3 course designer Catsy Cruz had her work cut out for her to create a challenging and fair track. With a delicate vertical-vertical-oxer combination and a tidy time allowed of 76.00 seconds, Cruz’s first-round course faulted all but eight entries. Four countries were ultimately represented in the jump-off qualifiers, with Brazilian Olympic champion Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) advancing not one, but both of his mounts.
As the first to qualify, Pessoa was the first to return with Eclat du Cerisier, setting the standard for the remainder of the field as he finished fault-free in 38.41 seconds. Having produced an even faster time of 36.52 seconds on his second horse, Corrie 9, Pessoa sat as the one to beat as the class came close to completion.
While Bagnato started with two entries in the class, it was the Elan Farm’s 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Royal Concorde x Lux Z Z) that clocked in a clear round to advance to the short course, and with a big stride and skillful maneuvering, Bagnato managed to shave mere milliseconds off the clock to stop the timers in an impressive 36.39 seconds for the win.
Pessoa’s performance with Corrie 9, the Artemis Equestrian Farm’s 10-year-old Westphalian mare (Comme Il Faut 5 x Arpeggio), stayed good enough to finish with the reserve honors.
Nicholas Dello Joio (USA) and Caroline Mawhinney’s nine-year-old KWPN mare (Voltaire x Indoctro), Legend, landed in 36.73 seconds at the finale of the class to take third.
“This is definitely our biggest win yet I would say,” enthused Bagnato. “I took him to Young Riders last year and we were silver individually, and that was really high up on my list, but this is our first FEI win.
“Although he’s not very fast, he has a huge stride and it’s easy to get around quickly,” she added. “I was just planning on doing the least amount of strides possible, and everything came up how I wanted it to. I actually did one less stride than I planned in one spot as well. I thought it was a really nice course.”
Although the pair appears totally in sync now, the partnership with “Ballyoskill” was not always so seamless for Bagnato. It necessitated some creative riding to make the pieces come together.
“When I first started riding him, he was just a lot of horse for me and has a really big jump so I would get jumped loose and it was just a bit of a mess,” she admitted. “He did everything perfectly, I just didn’t know how to do it yet. I actually rode him bareback for a while, a suggestion from Jordan Coyle, who also rides some horses for Elan Farm, and worked on jumping him over small jumps bareback for a month or two and that actually helped me a lot.
“Jordan said I needed to get a feel for him without anything in between, and I hated him for it for a while,” continued Bagnato with a laugh. “It wasn’t very enjoyable, but it really did make a huge difference. After a certain point we just clicked, and it’s been a great partnership since then.”
With the week’s FEI show jumping now complete, the final day of HITS Hudson Valley VII will emphasize national show jumping competition in the venue’s main ring, and feature a variety of equitation, jumper, and hunter classes across the grounds.
Final Results – $80,000 Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix CSI 2*
1) Mia Bagnato (USA) & Ballyoskill Big Bucks – 0 / 0 – 36.39
2) Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) & Corrie 9 – 0 / 0 – 36.52
3) Nicholas Dello Joio (USA) & Legend – 0 / 0 – 36.73
Source: Press Release from Hits Horse Shows
Photos: © Hits Horse Shows / ESI Photography
