Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping North American League: Chile’s Samuel Parot scores at Sacramento

By Esther Hahn

Last to go in a six-man jump off proved pivotal when Samuel Parot (CHI) delivered the fastest double clear in the $100,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping at the Sacramento International Horse Show on Saturday night. Aboard 12-year-old bay gelding Atlantis (Andiamo-Royal Bravour L), Parot shaved over half a second off the USA’s Quentin Judge’s target time of 37.55 seconds to finish at the head of the 24-starter field.

“The jump off was super,” Parot said after the win. “The design was perfect. I had the opportunity to see all the rider make the mistakes, but my horse is very fast so it was unnecessary to leave out the stride.”

Before Parot’s round, both Richard Spooner (USA) and Karl Cook (USA) attempted to leave out a stride to the final fence, resulting in knockdowns for both. After watching the eight strides lead to mistakes on the Alan Wade-designed course, commentator and 1976 Olympian Buddy Brown said that if he were to attempt the course, he would put in the nine strides without having to sacrifice speed. Just as the words left his mouth, Parot did exactly that, proving that Brown’s approach was the winning one.

California love

“There is something I would like to say about Samuel because I know him very well because he shows a lot in France,” said Eric Navet (FRA), third place finisher in the class. “Before I moved here to California, I met Samuel at many of the shows in France. He’s a great guy, always happy, always friendly, and he’s a very, very efficient and fast rider so I’m not surprised that he got the win tonight.”

Parot’s partnership with his horse only began in May, ahead of this year’s Pan American Games. A broken collarbone at the beginning of the Spruce Meadows Summer Series sidelined the 50-year-old rider for a few weeks, but he was back to his winning ways shortly after. On his first trip to California this week, he won the $35,000 Open Stake World Cup qualifier with Atlantis, giving a strong indication that the pair were on top form for the big class on Saturday evening.

“Today (Atlantis) jumped super,” Parot said. “This is our seventh show together. He likes a very soft ride. He’s very sensitive, very careful. I’m very happy. I love California. It’s my first time that I’ve come here.”

Next on the schedule for Parot and Atlantis is a stop in Los Angeles for the Longines Masters event before moving onto Del Mar, Calgary, and Las Vegas to compete in the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping North American League qualifiers. He plans to head back to Wellington, his home base, by the end of the year.

Indoor challenge

The evening class, inside and under lights, proved to be quite an adjustment for many of the horses, especially after the long summer season in large, outdoor arenas. The Irish-bred stallion Flexible, a crowd favorite and winner of the first West Coast North American League event at Thunderbird, was first in the order of go with Rich Fellers but his round resulted in uncharacteristic rails.

“The horses are trying to adjust to the lights,” Brown commented, after a few veteran riders also picked up faults. Additionally, the well-prepared course challenged riders throughout with its complex questions, demanding the highest level of precision from all starters.

“The principles are basically the same,” Wade said about designing tracks indoors as opposed to the large, outdoor venues. “You try and build them over the couple of days, and this was the biggest test. And tonight, the bigger the class, the more fair and open the distances were. The other night, I felt I had to test a bit more control because we were at 1.45 (meters). And when we got the bigger fences, it was more scope tests, and I was just trying to be fair to everyone.”

Many riders will continue to Los Angeles from Sacramento, where they will compete in another indoor venue and hope that they and their horses have gained valuable experience from the first indoor event of the fall season.

Results

1. Atlantis (Samuel Parot), CHI, 0 faults/36.97 seconds (JO);

2. HH Copin van de Broy (Quentin Judge), USA, 0/37.55 (JO);

3. Jonkheer Z (Eric Navet), FRA, 0/38.65 (JO);

4. Agamemnon (Alec Lawler), USA, 4/37.37 (JO);

5. Tembla (Karl Cook) USA, 4/37.48 (JO);

6. Chivas Z (Richard Spooner), USA, 4/38.84 (JO);

7. Calero (Allyssa Hecht), USA, 1/80.14;

8. Legis Touch the Sun (Jenni McAllister), USA, 2/83.28.

Results: http://eventcontent.hippoonline.de/1074/sta_erg/03_ergENG.htm?style=longines

Facts and Figures

Six horses went clear in the first round, one picked up a single time fault, and one collected two faults. Two horses were eliminated.

The course designer was Alan Wade.

It was an all-male jump-off, with four Americans, one Chilean, and one Frenchman.

The first round was contested over 13 obstacles with 16 jumping efforts. The jump-off round had seven obstacles with eight efforts. The height was set at 1.60 meters.

Quotes

Danielle Ballard, marketing and event manager for West Palms Events: “We are greatly honored to be a part of the North American League, and we really appreciate Longines and the FEI’s support in creating a very, very well-rounded look at show jumping. The marketing around it is very important to make sure people see the sport of show jumping so we are very thankful to be a part of the North American League and very honored.”

Quentin Judge (USA): I think for a rider you have to know your horse well and know that your horse is going to be able to cope with it. I’m lucky to have a really seasoned, fantastic horse that I can rely on in just about any venue and I think this was a great venue for him and a great test.

Eric Navet (FRA): “I’m very lucky to have (Jonkheer Z) to show because he has a lot of experience, and he has been doing very, very good things with Karl (Cook). He’s been shown in two World Cup Finals, and now we are getting Karl prepared with that chestnut mare that he showed today. She was very good. We look for the future for Karl, so in these kinds of grand prix, each rider is only allowed to show just one horse so that’s why I showed Jonkheer. He’s a little bit of the past for Karl, and Karl shows Temba, which is the future for him.”

Sacramento International Horse Show

The Sacramento International Horse Show is one of Northern California’s premier equestrian events and takes place at the Murieta Equestrian Center in Rancho Murieta, California. The facility features four indoor arenas, 13 outdoor arenas, shopping, dining, bleacher seating to accommodate 3,000 spectators and VIP seating/dining areas. The show attracts sell-out crowds for its grand prix classes and special events, and riders on the international circuit regularly attend the Sacramento International on their way to qualifying for the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final.

Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping North American League

A total of 14 athletes from the new North American League will qualify for next year’s prestigious Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final, which will take place in Gothenburg (SWE) on 23-28 March 2016.

The top seven athletes from the East Coast US, top three from West Coast US and the two best-placed athletes from Canada and Mexico will qualify for the Final, alongside winners of the 13 other leagues from around the world.

Calendar - Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping North American League

East Coast

Bromont, QC (CAN) 09.08.2015 2.30pm ET

New York, North Salem (USA) 13.09.2015 2.00pm ET

Washington, DC (USA) 24.10.2015 9.00pm ET

Lexington, KY (USA) 01.11.2015 2.00pm ET

Toronto, ON (CAN) 11.11.2015 9.15pm ET

Wellington, FL (USA) 07.02.2016 12.00pm ET

Ocala, FL (USA) 27.02.2016 1.00pm ET

West Coast

Langley, BC (CAN) 16.08.2015 2.00pm PT

Rancho Murieta, CA (USA) 26.09.2015 7.00pm PT

Del Mar, CA (USA) 17.10.2015 7.00pm PT

Calgary, AB (CAN) 31.10.2015 7.30pm MT

Las Vegas, NV (USA) 14.11.2015 8.00pm PT

Valle de Bravo (MEX) 23.01.2016 2.00pm CDT

Thermal, CA (USA) 13.02.2016 6.00 PT

Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping North American League

The new North American league was launched by Beezie Madden, the most decorated US female equestrian athlete of all time, American Gold Cup winner and FEI Solidarity Ambassador Jessica Springsteen, and Hannah Selleck, team and individual gold medalist at young rider level and one of the sport’s up-and-coming stars. The full launch release is available here: https://goo.gl/kCIsyW

The North American League boasts a minimum of US $2.4 million prize money across the series, and offers the best Jumping athletes from North America and around the world the chance to qualify for the jackpot of more than US $1.4 million (€1.3 million) on offer annually at the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final.