Edited press release from Phelps Media Group

Hungry for a win at Devon, FEI riders returned to the ring Friday evening following Thursday’s $226,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon. Competitors took on Anderson Lima’s 15-obstacle speed track spanning across both the Dixon Oval and the Wheeler Ring for a shot at topping the CSI4* 1.45m $38,700 Devon Speed Derby, sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover Main Line. 

In the end, it was the USA’s Kaitlin Campbell and Mirasol Equestrian, LLC’s Bull Run’s Hesed (Christian x Lord Z) who claimed the win. McLain Ward took an early lead in the class with Marta Mattox’ La Serra (Casall x Lacros), clocking in with a time of 76.91 seconds but had to settle for second as just two riders later Campbell entered the arena with a clear strategy. 

“My plan was literally just to go as fast as possible,” she stated. “I knew McLain went ahead of me and is super fast, so literally the only thing you could do was go as fast as possible. I know my horse is super fast across the ground; he doesn’t spend any time in the air. So normally, when I have a round where we push it, he leaves all the jumps up, and we are going to be at the top [of the class] because he literally jumps an inch over the fences.”

Campbell added, “This was his last class for the week, so I just let him rip tonight. I don’t have any more classes this week to worry about, so this was his grand finale.”

Her strategy paid off as she crossed the finish line in 75.18 seconds, surpassing the leading time. Rounding out the podium was Ireland’s Darragh Kenny, who piloted Dutch Valley Sporthorses’ Epona DVE (Arezzo VDL x Carambole) with a time of 77.54 seconds.