Wellington, Fla. – Feb. 26, 2020 – Last week’s Saturday Night Lights feature was a rainy, yet exciting class with tons of prize money up for grabs. Santiago Varela (ESP) was the course designer for the week’s 5* showdown. Santiago was here a couple of years ago but has not been a regular in the grand prix ring. He has, however, earned the right to be the course designer for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo this coming summer. I believe this is the highest honor a course designer can achieve, and I wish him the best of luck at the Olympics.
I would like to thank all the course designers over the years that have made Course Discourse a factual recording of Grands Prix. Without the honesty and transparency of the build sheets given to me by every course designer before the class begins, these articles would have no value. The reason I created this format, with the guidance of Phelps Sports, is to help everyone in the show jumping community and other interested individuals understand course design and the tests put forward to create good competition. Thank you, Mason, and special thanks to Kenny Krause for all the support over the years. Now we will move on to the FEI CSI 5* $401,000 Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix.
The course tonight will show the full basket of the tests that you will see in a major grand prix. On the course, we will see the open water (oh my stars), a triple bar and triple combination, a double combination, a plank vertical, one liverpool oxer, a wall and a short pole vertical. The time allowed is set at 82 seconds and was not really a factor in tonight’s class. With all the tests within the course tonight, the time allowed did not need to be another major test. The height and width of the jumps are what they should be, and the technical tests are extremely interesting.
This is the most diverse 5* course to this point in the season. There is a nice crowd on hand and is a little lighter than usual and could have been affected by the crummy weather. The unsettled weather in South Florida this winter has finally had an impact on a Saturday Night Lights grand prix. While everything seemed okay at the start of the class, it soon got colder. The heavy misty rain which would roll in throughout the evening was not pleasant for the competitors, their mounts, and the spectators. There were 45 entered, and all entries crossed the start line. Now, with the facts out of the way, let’s start the walk of the FEI CSI 5* Lugano Grand Prix.
To kick us off, here is an image of the course that each of the 45 riders faced on Saturday evening.
#1 Vertical 1.51m or 5ft ended the evening before it began for two riders, and also created a refusal for one competitor.
#2 Oxer 1.50/1.60m or 5/5.3ft comes from #1 on the bending right rein with no given distance, but nine strides was the number for all but one rider (who rode it in 10). This jump only fell to the floor twice that evening.
#3 The wall 1.60m or 5.3ft comes on a full turn on the left rein, and the demolition team was on break so the wall received no damage that night.
#4 the open water 3.90m or 12.9ft comes from #3 on the small bending right rein (mothers hold tight to your children) with a distance of 29.80m or 97.6ft. There were four toes in the tub and one fall after the water that results in elimination. Both rider and horse went to the mat but, thankfully, left the ring unaided.
#5 Oxer 1.53/1.60m or 5.1/5.3ft comes from the water on the bending left rein with a distance of 26.80m or 87.9ft, and was punched out 1 time.
#6 is a vertical, 1.59m or 5.3ft, that comes from #5 in a straight line with a distance of 18.75m or 61.6ft. This jump remained unblemished throughout the night. Fences #3 and #6 were two of three obstacles that did not influence the results tonight.
#7 Oxer 1.52/1.60m or 5/5.3ft that comes on a rollback left turn past and back towards the in-gate. This Rolex jump proved that Mother Earth was hungry tonight with one refusal and seven rails in the sand.
#8 Short-pole vertical comes on the bending left rein with a distance of 28m or 91.9ft from #7. The dark green poles and jumping into the darkest corner of the ring (in my opinion) caused some issues for six horse and rider pairs.
#9 Triple bar 1.55/1.95m or 5.1/6.3ft comes on a full turn on the right rein and proved challenging for two riders. Worth noting is that this was the jump that set up the triple combination.
#10a was a vertical 1.57m or 5.2ft that came from #9 in a straight line up to the top of the crown with a distance of 29.50m or 96.9ft. This jump was the second bogey fence in evening’s class, causing two refusals and seven poles to be removed from the top yellow cups.
#10b Vertical 1.58m or 5.3ft comes from #10a with a distance of 8.20m or 26.9ft and was the most difficult fence without a refusal tonight, with gravity raising his ugly head eight times.
#10c Oxer comes from #10b with a distance of 8.00m or 26.3ft and was dashed from the top cups three times.
#11 vertical 1.60m or 5.3ft comes on the bending left rein from #10c with a distance of 24m or 78.6ft. This fence was the last of the three fences not faulted throughout the evening.
#12a oxer 1.52/1.65m or 5/5.4ft comes on the full turn left and now coming back home. This fence was the big bad wolf all night with two denials and eight poles seeking sanctuary in the sand.
#12b was a vertical 1.58m or 5.3ft that came from #12a with a distance of 8.20m or 26.9ft. This jump received minimal suffering, only coming down twice that night.
#13 Oxer 1.53/1.70m or 5.1/5.6ft comes from #12b in a straight line with a distance of 20.50m or 67.3ft. Here we saw one denial and one pole bite the dust.
#14 liverpool oxer and sponsor jump 1.60/1.20m or 5.3/4ft comes from #13 on the bending line right rein with a distance of 25.80m or 67ft. The top pole splashed down to end the evening of only one rider. That ends the first round of the FEI CSI 5* $401,000 Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix.
The final tally showed that six riders would advance to the jump off with clear rounds. There were no rounds with just time faults. We saw nine rounds of 4 faults, one round with 5 faults, seven rounds of 8 faults and one with 9 faults. That is half the class; the others will compete another day. There was one fall resulting in elimination, and there were nine voluntary withdrawals. The voluntary withdrawals were riders choosing to save their mounts for another day and not have the score count for rider points. All but three fences were responsible for the eventual outcome.
The course tonight was difficult because first, it was a 5* but because, in my opinion, it involved several options in the number of strides between jumps. Many courses may include one or two options that are horse specific, but tonight we had several. The factor that makes for this many options is the time allowed. Tonight the options were possible because the time allowed made room for the options. When the time allowed is very tight, riders are committed to riding the same number of strides on all related lines to make the time. The time allowed tonight was generous enough for all the options to be possible, especially the line to the triple combination from the triple bar. A much more aggressive time allowed would have made the option of seven strides (in the beginning) or the eight strides (in the end) much more difficult and maybe unfair. It was a great judgment from Santiago and his team to have the correct time.
I will now give my mid-season award for the best grand prix to this date and will nominate Santiago Valera (ESP) for tonight’s class and Alan Wade (IRE) for the 4* World Cup qualifier at the Palm Beach Masters in a virtual tie. This was a very entertaining grand prix and could have been better if Mother Nature had been in a better mood. Congratulations to Santiago Varela for a very good week! We wish you the best of luck at the Olympics in Japan this summer and really hope to see you in Wellington, Florida, next season. Next week we have our Nations Cup in Wellington and Ken Krome (USA) at the helm. Until next week I am Dave Ballard.