A fantastic crowd gathered at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Saturday night for the $100,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Del Mar presented by EQ International Real Estate. Thirty-four horses and riders tried their luck in the 1.60m class designed by Marina Azevedo of Brazil. The first round consisted of 16 jumping efforts including one double and one triple combination, and it wasn't until 22nd in the order that the first clear round was turned in by Eduardo Menezes. Shortly thereafter, Zazou Hoffman, Georgina Bloomberg, and Nicole Shahinian-Simpson also went clear, making four total for the jump off. 

After the four horses and riders completed the short course, Zazou Hoffman came out on top aboard Samson II (Cardento x Bellini), a bay 14-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding owned by Woodacres Stables. Hoffman has been riding Samson for about two years. "I just have a lot of amazing things to say about the horse and how lucky I am to have him," said Hoffman. "He gave great efforts and helped me out everywhere he needed to be...he was just incredible."

Hoffman said she after she watched Eduardo Menezes' round, she knew she'd have to step on the gas. "I hadn't really considered how fast or not I was going to go, but after watching [Menezes] I knew I was going to have to be quite quick," said Hoffman. After tonight's win in Del Mar, Hoffman has moved to first place in the North American Western Sub-League rankings. 

Eduardo Menezes and H5 Quintol (Quintender 2 x Cento) came in just after Hoffman and Samson to take reserve champion honors in the class and move up to 5th place in the North American Western Sub-League. "I could stay the whole night here talking about my horse," said Menezes of the 13-year-old grey Oldenburg gelding. "I'm really happy he's back and in shape." Menezes recently gave H5 Quintol six months off. "I thought he was a bit tired...so I sent him to vacation at the beach and he ran loose for a while. I'm grateful that I did because I feel he's now in the best shape of his career."

Georgina Bloomberg and Chameur (Cayetano L x Grossadmiral) put in a beautiful clear round to take third place. "I loved my horse tonight," said Bloomberg of the 10-year-old bay Westphalian gelding. "He's a relatively new horse for me... I was aiming for a double clear because it was only my second time jumping off with him." 

Bloomberg added that she enjoyed the crowd in the Del Mar Arena. "I've been so impressed by seeing some of the West Coast crowd. They're into the sport and you can really feel their energy behind you." 

Dale Harvey, CEO of West Palms Events, agreed. "We were pretty close to full and you couldn't ask for a better crowd or a more educated crowd. They were very into it, as you could hear!"

Course designer Marina Azevedo was pleased with the quality of the horses and riders. "I think they jumped better today than [Thursday], and they were well-prepared even though it was a big and hard course. I'm very happy for the horses and riders." Azevedo also said that one of the best parts of course designing is experiencing the energy when the riders walk the course. "I can feel their excitement and how they feel about the course. I want them to feel confident about the course and look forward to the challenge."