Callie Schott and Garant, winners of the $340,000 Go Rentals CSI5* 1.60m Grand Prix at Desert International Horse Park. Photo © High Desert Sport Photo.
Press release from Desert International Horse Park, edited by World of Showjumping
In an exciting Desert Holiday CSI5* finale, Callie Schott and Garant (Warrant x Verdi TN) kicked it into overdrive to win the $340,000 Go Rentals CSI5* 1.60m Grand Prix on Saturday, December 13, at Desert International Horse Park.
“I told myself that I was just going to try to go and not touch the reins and see what happens,” said Schott. “This was definitely the fastest I’ve ever gone! Normally, I give him a few checks here and there. Today, I said, ‘You know what? I have nothing to lose. Let’s just go for it!’”
Schott and Garant’s fastest pace proved to be more than a second fast enough to top the seven-horse jump-off on Saturday night. The pair had the advantage of being the penultimate entry to return for the second round, and when they entered the ring, the time to beat had been set at 39.48 seconds by Aaron Vale and Carissimo 25 (Cascadello x Clinton).
Schott soon made shorter work of the Olaf Petersen Jr.-designed course, however, as she and Garant crossed the finish in a lightning-quick time of 38.08 seconds. That time would ultimately secure Garant the win, while Vale and Carissimo 25 held on to second place.
The top three: Callie Schott, Aaron Vale and Jessica Springsteen. Photo © High Desert Sport Photo.
“This is the third jump off he’s made in a row at 1.60m, so hopefully we’re developing some consistency,” said Vale of Carissimo 25, a 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by the Carissimo Group. “The horse has all the ability, and I feel like we’re really starting to get some consistency. I was a bit early in the jump off, so I was pretty good at the beginning. In hindsight, I’d like to take a little more chance at the second to last, but I left the ring as the leader and only one of them beat me, so we got to say it was a good night!”
Finishing just behind Vale in third place was the very first duo to jump off, Jessica Springsteen and her veteran partner Don Juan van de Donkhoeve (Bamako de Muze x Heartbreaker). They paved the way in the jump-off with a clear time of 40.14 seconds.
“When you’re in a class like this with horse and rider combinations that are the best of the best, you kind of know you have to just really go for it,” said Springsteen. “I think I was just a little bit too cautious in my turns, but I was super happy with him. I think tonight I could have taken more of a chance. He was jumping out of his skin! I’m still super happy with the result.”
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