The pinnacle of show jumping competition at the HITS Hudson Valley Summer Series Championship Week crescendoed on Saturday, September 5, as elite athletes vied for the top prize in the $125,000 Core Specialty Insurance CSI3* Grand Prix. The marquee international event s part of the action-packed week, which represents the culmination of a summer-long series of incredible sport, featuring a heavy-hitting lineup of classes, including a full CSI3* division, 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. With all eyes trained on the Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Stadium for a full afternoon of high-stakes horse showing, it was Nayel Nassar (EGY) and Igor van de Wittemoere that took the win in the $125,000 Core Specialty Insurance CSI3* Grand Prix.
Marking the penultimate day of competition for the week, Saturday on the showgrounds was abuzz with excitement, as FEI level 4 course designer Bernardo Cabral (POR) put the finishing touches on his opening round to test the 26 horse-and-rider combinations. Eight nationalities, including Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Ireland, Israel, Peru, Venezuela, and the United States, were accounted for in the starting lineup, and it was obvious everyone came with their A-game from the start. An impressive 15 entries successfully navigated around the first-round track fault-free, but the path to a double-clear effort ultimately proved to be much more challenging.
As pairings pushed for a winning effort across the jump-off course, mistakes were made. It was not until Chloe Reid (USA) and Crossover 4 returned as the sixth duo to come back to the ring that another clear round was possible. Following only few horses after, Nassar used his lengthy partnership with the Evergate Stables LLC’s 18-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Cooper van de Heffinck x Orlando) to shave off valuable time and shoot straight to the top of the leaderboard.
“Funnily enough, this happens a lot with bigger jump-offs,” explained Nassar. “People start to go too fast and have rails, and that’s what ended up happening by the time I went in the jump-off. There was only one clear and not super fast, so I thought ‘Let’s not take all the risk today; Igor is plenty quick just with his natural foot speed, so let’s just do a nice round and see where that ends up,’ and surely that was enough today.”
Despite being known as the “senior” horse in the day’s field of contenders, Igor van de Wittemoere seems to only get better with age and appears to have no intention of slowing down his winning streak even after six years with Nassar in the irons.
“We have an amazing team back at the barn starting from our manager all the way through the guys that are there taking care of the horses every day,” enthused Nassar of the group effort promoting Igor’s continued good health. “We use him sparingly; we’ve dropped him down a level, and we just pick the venues that he likes. He’s always loved it here at HITS Hudson Valley and always jumps well in this ring with this footing, so we figured we should place him where we know he can be successful and milk the rest of his career.
“He’s had a great year and has jumped more clear rounds than I can count,” continued Nassar. “He’s such a deserving horse and it’s nice for him to pick up these grand prix wins. At his age, it’s something pretty special.”
Reid’s time of 43.760 seconds on Crossover 4, Team Reid LLC’s 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Cascadello x Chacco-Blue) fell just short of Nassar’s winning time of 42.230 seconds for the runner-up position. Steven Bluman (ISR) piloted Chice Lotti M, the nine-year-old Westphalian mare owned by Blue Star Investments, into the final podium position with a double-clear effort in 45.620 seconds.
One final day of hunter, jumper, and show jumping action remains for the HITS Hudson Valley Summer Series on Sunday, September 6, including the highly-anticipated $300,000 ClipMyHorse.TV Hunter Classic Final and the $75,000 Voltaire National Standard Grand Prix. Competition then resumes on Wednesday, September 9, for The League National Finals, presented by Marshall & Sterling Insurance, and then returns for the two-week Fall Series on Wednesday, September 30. For full results, please visit www.showmanagementsystem.com.
