Press release from Split Rock Jumping Tour, edited by World of Showjumping

A warm Sunday afternoon at the Kentucky Horse Park paired well with the hot streak put forth by Alexandra Worthington and De L’Oiseliere (Kapitol D'Argonne x Oberon Du Moulin), owned by Turn A Blind Eye LLC, upon winning the Split Rock Hunter Jumper Classic's main event in week one, the $100,000 1.45m Grand Prix CSI2*, presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. Their longtime partnership seems to be flourishing after picking up a CSI3* grand prix victory just three weeks prior at the same venue.

The Split Rock Hunter Jumper Classic I CSI2* kicked off the first of four consecutive competition weeks at the Kentucky Horse Park for the Split Rock Jumping Tour (SRJT), as it precedes the Split Rock Hunter Jumper Classic II CSI2*, followed by the Adequan/USEF Junior Hunter National Championships - East, and the USHJA Amateur Festival - East, hosted by SRJT.

“He’s definitely my horse of a lifetime,” said Worthington. “I feel like every rider has that one horse who they just have an unbelievable partnership with and I’ve had him since he was an 8-year-old. My boyfriend and trainer (Declan Mc Garry) had him since he was a 4-year-old, so he’s been in the family for a long time and we’ve really come up the levels together – the trust and consistency we have built is just a really special feeling.”

The well-suited track designed by Anderson Lima (BRA), tested horse-and-rider combinations over 16 jumping efforts to yield five clear first rounds. Rupert Winkelmann of Germany was just the second to go in round one, producing the first clear round aboard Heinrich Winkelmann’s Imodo (Bessemeind's Quasimodo Z x Broere VDL Corland). He seemingly found his perfect stride as he later delivered another clear with his second mount, Calvados Son, to be the only athlete with two rides in the jump-off. Savannah Jenkins and Dominic Gibbs would earn their way to clear rounds between Winkelmann’s two contenders, while Worthington would deliver the final clear effort of round one to earn the coveted final spot for round two.

Winkelmann set the tone in round two with a swift clear effort aboard Imodo, stopping the timers in 36.66 seconds and putting the pressure on those to follow. Next in, Jenkins and Ilan Ferder’s Hector du Ter (Comme Il Faut 5 x Le Tot De Semilly) gave a good run, but their time of 37.23 seconds would finish short. Friday’s $32,000 C. Jarvis Insurance 1.45m Welcome CSI2* third place finishers, Gibbs and Contra (Contendro II x Alcatraz), the mare owned by Georgy Sarah Maskrey-Segesman, clocked an impressive pace to easily overtake the leading time, however, a tight turn back to a vertical by the ingate proved costly, causing their 34.82-second finish to be overshadowed by a four-fault score. Still holding the lead, Winkelmann returned with Calvados Son, but with two rails down, he would only secure one spot on the podium and leave the final opportunity to Worthington. She and the 13-year-old gelding saved the best for last, to take the win with a time of 35.31 seconds. Winkelmann would settle for second place with Imodo, followed by Jenkins in third and Gibbs in fourth.

"My horse is very experienced at this level so I knew we would be able to take a couple risks and have a really good chance at getting a good result," said Worthington. "The last weekend he jumped here at the [Kentucky] Horse Park, he won a CSI3* grand prix, so we’re on a bit of a good streak. I had a lot of fast riders that came before me in the jump-off...so I knew I would have to take quite a few risks - sometimes they pay off, sometimes you get unlucky but today it definitely paid off."

Jumper competition will continue into next week with the Split Rock Hunter Jumper Classic II beginning Tuesday, June 9, and hosting the return of the $100,000 Grand Prix CSI2*, presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, on Sunday, June 14.