Press release from Thunderbird Show Park

Owner Greg Tomb had plenty to celebrate Saturday at the CSIO4*/2* Odlum Brown BC Open.

Tomb rang in his birthday at Thunderbird Show Park and the first Grand Prix win for his horse, Gulf’s Emir, in the $31,100 CSI2* 1.45m Grand Prix. Third to return for Peter Holmes’ short course and piloted by USA’s Kyle King, the 12-year-old grey gelding took over the lead from compatriot Karrie Rufer on Stan dei Folletti with a clear round in 43.06 seconds. 

The rain was lashing down during his ride but King and the big gray gelding kept their focus and turned on the speed. Nine more riders would try to catch them, but none were quite fast enough to steal the win.

Canadian Kara Chad was the only other rider to top Rufer’s time, stopping the clock on 43.86 aboard Chicago to finish second overall, with Rufer finishing third. Twelve horse and rider combinations contested the jump-off, with all but two horses leaving all of the rails up.

“I was happy that Conor [Swail] wasn’t last in the ring,” laughed King.  

“I left the door open a little bit. “I left the door open a little bit. I kind of added the 8 [to the Uryadi’s Village verticle] to make a quick turn and I checked up a little bit [to the last]. But he was very quick at the beginning. And he’s a quick horse anyway.”

Gulf’s Emir was previously campaigned at this level by Tomb’s daughter Reagan. After he was rehabbed from an injury a year and a half ago, horse and rider were out of sync, so King took over the ride to bring the horse back up to the level.

“He is super fast and very, very careful,” said King. “I think he’s a weapon at this level. He loves to win and he’s a really cool horse. I look forward to putting Reagan back on him because she deserves him. But I’ll steal him once in a while!” 

Gulf’s Emir was initially purchased from Europe as a seven-year-old for Greg Tomb to ride; King showed him in his first 1.30 meter class in Los Angeles before Reagan took the reins and never gave them back to her dad. 

“Greg picked him and then Reagan stole him. And now I stole him from Reagan and she’ll steal him back. It’s kind of like a family affair with him,” King explained.

On Saturday, they stole the win, too.