Nayel Nassar and Dorado de Riverland won Thursday's $38,700 FEI 1.45m two-phase at Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows. Photo © SEL Photography.
Press release from Old Salem Farm
Egypt’s Nayel Nassar claimed victory in the $38,700 FEI 1.45m two-phase at the 2024 Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows on Thursday, putting in a speedy 25.52-second time over Alan Wade’s 15-effort course aboard Dorado de Riverland (Untouchable M x Argentinus).
The Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows are one of the premier stops on the nation’s hunter-jumper horse show circuit, offering a full schedule of world-class competition May 7-12 and May 14-19 that features the nation’s best in equestrian sport.
Seventy-seven entries representing nine countries challenged Thursday’s $38,700 FEI 1.45m Two-Phase, with many top contenders competing on multiple horses. Nassar set an early time to beat (25.52 seconds) with Evergate Stables LLC’s 11-year-old Selle Français gelding that even his two later mounts could not match.
Molly Ashe Cawley took second aboard Berdien. Photo © SEL Photography.
“Dorado was actually the horse I planned to be competitive on for this class,” Nassar said. “He’s a great guy, extremely fast over the ground and really quick in the air. The course suited him today, so I figured we could put the hammer down and see where the others ended up as the class went on. In these two-phase classes, it’s a fine line between jumping the jumps clean and being competitive. My plan was to keep the jump in him for the first half and then let him run loose in the second.
“There were places I could do the leave-outs and turns where some of the bigger horses couldn’t leave out the stride and still ride it efficiently,” he added. “Our plan for him now is to jump the Saturday 1.45m class, and I’ll use one of my other two horses in the big Grand Prix. Saturday is going to be a jump-off class with a longer initial course, but if we ride clean and make it to that jump-off, it’ll be business as usual. He’s really great against the clock.”
Americans Molly Ashe Cawley and McLain Ward were the closest to catching Nassar’s time. Ashe Cawley was just 0.3 seconds behind Nassar, stopping the clock in 25.81 seconds for second place aboard Berdien (Bustique x Querlybet Hero), Louisburg Farm’s 13-year-old Zangersheide mare. Ward finished third after tripping the timers in 26.04 seconds with First Lady (Don Diarado x Lordanos), Robin Cleary Parsky’s 11-year-old Oldenburg mare.
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