Saturday evening marked the conclusion of regular competition at the 142nd National Horse Show, with the ASPCA Maclay National Championship, presented by Chansonette Farm, scheduled for Sunday, November 2. For the final night of show jumping, the NHS hosted a double-feature: the $20,000 CMJ Sporthorse 1.35m Open Grand Prix kicked off the evening, followed by the $100,000 CMJ Sporthorse 1.45m Grand Prix, which closed out the night in the Alltech Arena.
In the $20,000 CMJ Sporthorse 1.35m Open Grand Prix, JJ Torano and Good Mood Semilly, Ilan Ferder’s Selle Français mare (Kannan x Betty Boop Semilly x Diamant de Semilly), topped the field of 38 horse-and-rider combinations with double-clear rounds and the fastest time in the jump-off, 33.94 seconds.
Simon McCarthy and Partridge Hill Equestrian LLC’s Belgian Warmblood mare, Sea Coast Queen B Van’t Paradijs (Elvis Ter Putte x Monalisa Van’t Paradijs), finished in second place, while Mary Lisa Leffler and Zaza Z, Rolling Acres Show Stables’ Warmblood mare (Zandor Z x Cocaine Z), rounded out the top three.
Alan Wade (IRE), who has been designing courses at The National Horse Show for the past three years, set a 16-obstacle track for Saturday’s feature event.
Of the 28 horse-and-rider combinations that took to Wade’s first-round track in the $100,000 CMJ Sporthorse 1.45m Grand Prix, eight made it through clear, advancing to the shortened jump-off track.
In the end, it was Alessandra Volpi and Cedar Fox LLC’s KWPN mare, Glamour (Numero Uno x Sadina V), who claimed the win with double-clear rounds and a time of 36.6 in the jump-off.
Volpi has partnered with Glamour for about a year and a half. “She’s so competitive and really fun to ride. This class is ideal for her, so I was excited to bring her here.”
Reflecting on the course, Volpi shared, “Alan Wade has done an amazing job designing these classes all week. It can be challenging to build for these fields, and I think he did a great job making everything competitive. It’s great practice to jump indoors like this, and you don’t get that a lot in the U.S.”
Going into the jump-off, Volpi knew she had some fast riders following her. “I had to do a really quick turnaround for my first horse, and JJ and Sloan are always super competitive. Anyone who steps out there has a chance, so my plan was just to go. My horse is really quick across the ground, which is a huge benefit.”
Up next for Volpi is the World Cup in Toronto.
Bill Weeks, Chairman of the NHS Board, congratulated the trio, saying, “A lot of effort goes into putting these things on, and we had great sport tonight. I would argue that the cream rose to the top—and they are sitting here.”
