Katy, TX – Daisy Ford and Gatsby led the grand prix victory gallop for the second week in a row at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center, this time after topping the $25,000 Great Southwest Grand Prix on Saturday, November 19 during the Great Southwest Final Chase.

“I was a little nervous again,” said Ford, who has owned Gatsby for eight years but just got the gelding back from a year lease in May. “I haven’t done this in a long time, and him being 16, we didn’t know if he would come back week two and still feel as good as he did week one. He did. I gave him off the entire week. This was the only class that he did. He was fantastic. He’s just one incredible horse!” 

Ford and Gatsby were one of 21 entries to contest the first-round course designed by Danny Foster, and they were one of eight to advance to the jump-off.

“I got lucky that I drew 19 in the order, so I was the last one to go in the jump off,” said Ford, who operates her own business, Ford Farms. “It was a really, really good course. It was technical, and the jumps were big enough. It was kind of an interesting jump-off, because you had the ability to go quick and leave some strides out in two areas. There were also three inside turns, and you had to do all three inside turns to win.”

Ford left out strides in both places to fly across the finish in 37.660 seconds, almost exactly two seconds faster than second-place finisher Alwaleed Alrashid who stopped the clock in 39.653 seconds riding RSH Grand Dessert, owned by Royal Sport Horses. Third place with a time of 40.303 seconds went to Lindsay Bedoya riding Daniel Bedoya’s Quattro.

“I was a little panicked because, in the rollback to the second to last jump in the jump-off, he slipped behind turning in the inside turn,” said Ford. I ended up having to slow down for a second to regain stability, so I was a little bit worried about the time there, but he’s just so fast across the ground!” 

For full results of the $25,000 Great Southwest Grand Prix, click here.

Morgan Van Nortwick rode MTM Post Script to victory in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby held on Friday, November 18, during the Great Southwest Final Chase in Katy, TX.

A field of 18 horses contested the first round of the week’s highlight hunter class, and at the opening round’s conclusion, Van Nortwick and MTM Post Script sat in third place with scores 85.5 and 90 for a 172.5 first-round total score. Holding the lead with a score of 178 was Jef Lauwers on Hallpass, and Lauwers also sat in second place with a score of 175 aboard Reba.

With the top 12 entries returning in reverse order of their standings for the handy phase, Nortwick and MTM Post Script’s second-round score of 200 instantly shot them to the top of the leaderboard with a 375.5 overall total. A handy round score of 196 would give Lauwers and Hallpass, owned by Sue Copeland, a 374 total for a close second place. Lauwers and Reba, owned by Shadyside Farm, finished in third with a score of 362.

Van Nortwick has spent the past few years working for Will Roberts at Pine Hollow Farm in New Caney, TX, and Roberts was highly complimentary of Van Nortwick and MTM Post Script’s performance and partnership.

“Morgan works really, really hard, and I love working with her,” said Roberts. “I do greatly appreciate that. She’s a pleasure to be around, and the horses love her.”

MTM Post Script came into the barn in August as a sales horse, and Van Nortwick and the 10-year-old Warmblood gelding, owned by Cecilia Halsey, have meshed well in the few months since then.

“Much like almost every horse, he loves Morgan,” said Roberts. “Horses love her. They go out of their way to try hard and be good sports for her. He went really exactly the way that we wanted him to in both rounds.”

Roberts continued, “We kind of geared him toward this class. So, we showed him lightly the past couple weeks and then chose not to show him during the week this week just to target the derby, and when it works out like that, everybody’s happy!”

For full results of the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, click here.

Katy, TX – While an inside turn generally proves advantageous in a jump-off, this time, it was going around a fence that Brandon Howard credits with helping HF Costa Rica earn the win in the $10,000 Karinda K. Welcome Stake on Thursday, November 17 at the Great Southwest Final Chase.

“I decided to instead go around the jump,” explained Howard, who was one of nine entries from the 16-horse starting field to advance to the jump-off. “Watching everyone that went inside, they had to slow down so much, and it put them on such an angle to [the next fence] that they had to have a lot of scope to clear it to get down to the six-stride line. I opted to go around instead, which put me on a faster stride into that six-stride line down the middle. I ended up landing from the back of that line quicker than everyone else, and then went on the inside track.”

Howard and HF Costa Rica crossed the finish in 32.175 seconds, which would hold up for the win. Finishing in second place with a close time of 32.766 seconds were Avery Erickson and her own MTM Checco. Third place went to Joshua Tabor who finished in 33.676 seconds riding Calispera, owned by the Carat Group LLC.

“[Costa Rica’s] definitely got a lot of blood and a lot of heart,” said Howard of the 14-year-old Hanoverian mare, owned by Homeward Farms. “I don’t think I could put a jump in front of her that she doesn’t think she could jump, but she doesn’t have a lot of scope. She really just finds scope in her heart. I have to carry the pace to help her out with that.”

Howard bought HF Costa Rica in Europe when the mare was seven and has progressed her up the ranks to the 1.40-1.45m level since then.

“Originally, I got her as just a 1.30m horse to import and sell,” explained Howard. “Every time I put the jumps up, she kind of just jumped better and better. I leased her out for about a year and a half; I just got her back earlier this year.”

Also earning a headline jumper win during the Great Southwest Final Chase were Joshua Tabor and Concanto, owned by the Carat Group LLC. The pair topped a 19-horse field on their way to the win in the $5,000 1.25m Hygain Mini Prix on Friday, November 18. 

For full results of both classes, click here.