Langley’s Kyle King won the $100,000 CSI3* ONNI Grand Prix 1.50m at Thunderbird Show Park on Sunday, Aug. 14.
The win came after two almost-victories for King at tbird, the CSI3* tbird Speed 1.45m, where he finished third to Matthew Sampson, and the Maui Jim Grand Prix, where he finished second to Sampson.
After 13 of 14 horses jumped off in the CSI3* ONNI Grand Prix, Sampson was leading.
King was last to jump. He and Christine Maclean’s Etalon flew through the timers more than a second faster than his competitor to claim the win in the feature event of the CSI3* Summer Fort Welcome at tbird.
The winning time was 40.90 seconds. Sampson settled for second with Ebolensky (41.98 seconds), with Kara Chad (CAN) and Quidamo F third (42.44)
“I saw Matt go, and you know, I’ve been watching Matt. He’s just been kicking my butt every time, and I kind of consider this my home field, so I was getting a little [upset] about it,” King said.
King, who bases his business in Langley, defended his home turf in an exceptionally quick jump-off that saw 14 horses navigate a clear first round over Holmes’ course. As the jump-off became increasingly quick, King saw his opportunity to win between the first and last two fences.
“I saw that [Sampson] was a little bit slow from [fences] one to two,” he said. “I got the same numbers on the rollbacks, and then maybe I was a little quicker to the last jump. I pulled on the reins a little later.”
READ ALSO: Langley’s Kyle King wins Grand Prix at Thunderbird Show Park
RESULTS $100,000 CSI3* ONNI Grand Prix 1.50m
1 Etalon / Kyle King / USA / Christine Maclean / 0/0 40.09
2 Ebolensky / Matthew Sampson / GBR / Matthew Sampson / 0/0 41.98
3 Quidamo F / Kara Chad / CAN / Kara Chad / 0/0 42.44
4 Stern Dei Foletti / Karrie Rufer / USA / Morningstar Sport Horses LLC / 0/0 42.55
5 Catinka 25 / Vanessa Manix / CAN / Vanessa Mannix / 0/0 42.78
6 Armik / Capt. Brian Cournane / USA / Capt. Brian Cournane / 0/0 42.8
7 Grandeur WP / Bretton Chad / CAN / Stone Ridge Farms, LLC / 0/0 46.23
8 Clockwise of Greenwhill Z / Uma O’Neill / NZL / Uma O’Neill / 0/0 46.49
9 Milton / James Brennan / IRL / Crooks Show Jumping / 0/0 49.56
10 Cunningham 4 / Christopher Lowe / CAN / Christopher Lowe / 0/0 50.04
READ ALSO: Aldergrove’s Kassidy Keith wins at tbird
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