18 March '24
McLain Ward and Contagious win the CSI4* GP of Wellington
© Sportfot
American rider McLain Ward and his 15-year-old Contagio Z son Contagious produced another cracking performance last weekend! The bronze medallists from last year's Pan American Games in Santiago competed during the 10th week of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington International and became the winners of the Horseware Ireland CSI4* Grand Prix there on Saturday!
American track builder Oscar Soberon had provided a particularly tough and technical base course for this CSI4* GP. Of the 37 combinations that made their appearance at this 1.60m class, only three managed to get through the basic round unscathed, thereby securing a ticket for the jump-off. One of those three was McLain Ward and his chestnut gelding Contagious, with whom he also jumped to 9th place at the CSIO4* GP in Wellington earlier this month. In the jump-off, Ward and Contagious had the luxury of being the very last combination to start again and with a clear round in 43.24 seconds they wrote this GP on their record!
McLain Ward: "Contagious has already been a great partner and I am very grateful to Beachwood and Lise Revers (the owners) for having had the horse with me his whole career. He is getting older now and it is a bit more work to keep him in shape, but he has a big heart. He has had a few unlucky mistakes here in Florida so far: jumped two great Grand Prix, but one mistake each time. But tonight I felt he would jump well. It was a very hot night so I only did three jumps in the paddock. Because I didn't want to ask too much of him. As we are used to him, he gave everything again and we were also lucky to be the last combination to start."
McLain Ward and Contagious' victory was of course the absolute blue/yellow highlight, but we also saw several Zangersheide horses in the top 10 of the standings during this CSI4* GP. For example, there was a 6th place for British rider Jessica Mendoza with the 12-year-old gelding I-Cap CL Z, a son of I'm Special de Muze and Air Jordan Z from the breeding farm of Alexander Liefsoens. Mendoza and I-Cap CL Z won another 1.50m class in Puebla at the end of January, but this time a mistake in the basic round kept them out of the jump-off.
The same was true for American rider Mimi Gochman and the 11-year-old grey stallion Cosmos BH, a son of Chellano Alpha Z and Artos Z who was born Cosmos Z at Zangersheide Stud. Gochman and Cosmos Z were good for 5th place in the 1.50m class on Thursday and during the CSI4* GP they managed to secure 7th place in the standings.
Finally, 8th place went to Belgian rider Emilie Conter with the 10-year-old chestnut mare Trixie Z, a breeding product of Hugo De Witte who combined the blood of Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z with that of Regilio. Conter and Trixie Z also ran into 4 staff points in the basic round.