Upperville, Va. – June 9 – The 1.40m Open Jumpers once again highlighted jumper action at the 168th Upperville Colt & Horse Show (UCHS), where it was Quentin Judge who captured the winning honors aboard HH Qualido. The international athlete claimed the win in a race to the finish line that was less than 1/100th of a second faster than Vanessa Hood and Santauer, who would finish in second place while Gavin Harley and Kavalli Di Magico rounded out the top three.
Marina Azevedo of Brazil designed the inviting course in the B&D Builders Jumper Ring I, which featured two oxer-vertical double combinations. Ten entries were faultless over the opening track to advance to the jump-off where quick rollbacks and inside turns were the key to topping the leaderboard.
Harley and Clear Ride LLC’s Kavalli Di Magico set the pace to beat early in the class, breaking the beams in 34.460 seconds with no faults added to their score. The lead did not hold for long though, as Judge was next in the ring with Double H Farm’s HH Qualido. Two inside turns and one less stride to the final vertical allowed the quick duo to edge ahead with a clear time of 34.240 seconds. At the end of the class, Hood tried to catch Judge with Sanateur, coming extremely close with a faultless time of 34.249 seconds, less than 1/100ths of second slower than Judge. Hood would settle for the second position while Harley would claim third place, leaving Judge to take home the winning honors.
Judge noted that HH Qualido, a 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding, is one of his favorite mounts who always wants to win, but is also a sweet horse in the barn that his children enjoy as well. Wednesday proved to be no exception for talented horse’s winning ways as they galloped to several delicate verticals, clearing them easily to edge out Hood for their second win of the week, having topped the 1.35m Tuesday.
International competition at the Upperville Colt & Horse Show will begin Thursday in the B&D Builders Jumper Ring I with the $37,000 FEI 4* Power & Speed Stakes, presented by Sotheby’s Realty. The first FEI event of the week will be followed by the $30,00 Upperville American Standard Grand Prix, presented by the Ingram Family.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Quentin Judge – 1.40m Open Jumper Winner
On HH Qualido:
“He’s a 12-year-old gelding, and we’ve had him for about two years. He’s probably my favorite horse that we have. I don’t jump the biggest classes with him, but he’s such a good horse. He tries super hard in every class. He’s also the sweetest horse we have. My son and my daughter pull on his ears, so he’s just the best horse in that way. He’s super simple, I trust him a lot. He’s very careful, so you can turn at anything and go as fast you want. More often than not he tries to win – yesterday he won the 1.35m and today the 1.40m. He’s just such a trier.”
On his jump-off:
“I think for him, on the turn to the third to last vertical, the inside turn, and back to the last double [I made up time]. He’s really good off the turns and I can trust him to be very careful at the verticals, so the inside turns to verticals I can always take a little bit of a risk. He has a big enough stride that I could leave one out to the last jump – where most horses did eight strides we did seven. I can really run at a vertical.”
On his plans for the week:
“I was kind of thinking about doing the National Grand Prix tomorrow. Normally he doesn’t jump three days in a row, so we’ll see how he feels tomorrow morning and decide. I am just building him back up this summer to FEI level, so we will see what he tells me he wants to do tomorrow morning.”
On the UCHS:
“I am thrilled to be here. I used to work for Joe Fargis in Middleburg when I was 17, so I was here for a couple of years. It’s nice to be back and see people I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s such a lovely, historic show. For myself and our clients it’s such a special atmosphere and venue. It’s one of the more special places we get to go to in the summer – we love it!”
RESULTS
1.40m Open Jumpers
1. HH Qualido / Quentin Judge / Double H Farm / 0| 76.800 / 0 | 34.240
2. Santauer / Vanessa Hood / Take Two LLC / 0 | 77.770 / 0 | 34.249
3. Kavalli Di Magico / Gavin Harley / Clear Ride LLC / 0 | 72.330 / 0| 34.460
4. Heavenly W / Carly Anthony / Portfolio Horses LLC / 0 | 73.100 / 0 | 34.504
5. Quantum Trost 3 / Abby Grabowski / Abby Grabowski / 0 | 76.850 / 0 | 35.320
6. Chewbacca / Jimmy Torano / Mario Deslauriers / 0 | 75.810 / 0 | 35.510
7. Nixon Van D Abelendreef / David Blake / Pine Hollow Farm / 0 | 74.850 / 0 | 36.300
8. Major Tom / Rodrigo Pessoa / Artemis Equestrian Farm LLC / 0 | 76.200 / 0 | 36.624
9. Faro / Grace Debney / Temple Equestrian LLC / 0 | 72.820 / 0 | 37.270
10. Volcan D’Ivraie / Kay Christine / Big Bay City LLC / 0 | 77.770 / 0 | 40.378
