Press release from Desert International Horse Park, edited by World of Showjumping

Winning the CSI3* $32,000 Bridgeport Farms 1.45m Welcome on February 19 meant outpacing a competitive 16-horse jump-off, but 24-year-old Melody Liu (USA) did just that to take home her very first FEI victory.

Liu and Napoleon van den Dael (For Passion d'Ive Z x Eros Platiere), owned by Corsari Equestrian LLC, were one of 34 entries to contest the Thursday afternoon class set on the Grass Field at Desert International Horse Park. Following the first round, 17 horses and riders had jumped clear over the Alan Wade-designed course, with all but one of those riders electing to return for the jump-off.

From there, speed was the name of the game. When Liu and Napoleon van den Dael returned to the grass, 18-year-old Reagan Tomb (USA) had impressively taken over the leaderboard with a time of 40.37 seconds aboard Nijinsky 10 (Numero Uno x Cartani), owned by Dirk Baudach. For Liu and “Simba” however, it only took 38.76 seconds to show that there were still opportunities to shave off even more time. They flew over the final vertical and simultaneously threw down the gauntlet for the final pair to return: the notoriously fast James Chawke (IRL) and Daido van’t Ruyershof Z (Dieu Merci van T&L x Bamako de Muze).

While Chawke gave it a good run, his time of 40.05 seconds was not quite enough to catch Liu, earning him second place. Tomb held on to third, while fourth place on 40.58 seconds went to Canada’s Tiffany Foster and Anton (Arko III x Quintero), owned by 5 Roosters.

“It’s super exciting," said Liu of securing her first FEI victory. “My horse is really quick across the ground on his own, and he doesn’t spend much time in the air at all. So, for the most part, all I had to do was stay out of his way…I really took a chance rolling back to [the second to last fence]. I kind of flapped my arms and was like, ‘Please leave it up!’ and then he did. It was awesome. I think that turn definitely did it.”

While Liu and Napoleon van den Dael’s partnership looked seamless on Thursday at Desert Circuit 7, the young rider says that it has not always been that way.

“He is something else," said Liu of the 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding that she has had for the past two and a half years. “His show name, Napoleon van den Dael, is very fitting because he’s not very big, but he thinks he’s huge. We always call him ‘the little lion,’ so when he came to my barn, I said, ‘Oh, we’re going to call him Simba.’ It actually took me over a year to figure out how to ride him. Kyle King actually rode him for me for six or seven months, and then I took the reins back. I genuinely thought I couldn’t ride him when I first got him, but I think we’ve put in the time. It’s really, really been worth it… He’s everything I could ever dream of.”

Liu now plans to return to the Grass Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the finale CSI3* event of Desert Circuit 7, the $117,000 Spotlight 29 Casino CSI3* Grand Prix.