Thermal, Calif.—March 20

If you’ve watched McLain Ward in enough classes it shouldn’t surprise you to see him give his ribbon to a young show jumping fan.

So it was no surprise that when that young boy, named Thor, showed up as the top riders were settling down for the press conference, Ward took a moment to speak to him. As Thor graciously thanked Ward for the ribbon, received his autograph and extended his small hand for a handshake, Ward encouraged him to give a proper firm handshake.

Ward isn’t known for his outward displays of emotion in the ring—when he’s riding he’s very business-like—but outside of the ring, his generous and warm personality shines through.

He might have been happy to give away the blue ribbon, but Ward will be holding firmly to the check for $350,000 that he and Rothchild earned in the HITS AIG $1 Million Grand Prix. When he shipped his Pan American individual gold medalist Rothchild from Wellington, Fla., to Thermal, Ward meant business.

He came into the jump-off on a mission, and he and Rothchild stopped the clocks at 37.64 seconds, a full 2 seconds faster than Charlie Jayne and Chill RZ. Another East Coast rider, Jonathan McCrea, rounded out the top three with Aristoeles V.

Ward was thrilled with the win, as last year he and Rothchild had a bridesmaid year, finishing in the top three in all three of the HITS million-dollar grand prix classes.

“If feels great,” Ward said. “He’s been obviously an incredible partner for me and thanks to Sagamore and the entire Sweeney family for their support. The horse has a special place in my heart, and he’s done some great things for me including million dollar classes. Last year we aimed him to all three millions, and he performed beautifully in all three—second, second and third—and got nipped at the wire. I was caught sleeping in Ocala [when Charlie won there last year] and today I had a little revenge.”

Because of his history of coming in second by a small margin, Ward chose to really put the pressure on McCrea rather than trying to pull out a win with a small margin.

“I’ve made more mistakes taking too much off and being too conservative and trying to milk the win, so my plan was to ride a quick prompt round, without taking massive, massive risks. My horse had a little bit of a lucky rub in the first round at the last fence, so I actually felt that I could take a little risk coming home and leave out a stride and that paid off. That’s a little bit knowing your horse and knowing your strengths and weaknesses,” he said.

Charlie Jayne and Chill RZ raced through the timers in the jump off to finish second.

Chill RZ is a bit slower across the ground, so Jayne’s strategy was to utilize the stallion’s large stride, however, when he had to add between Fences 2 and 3, he lost ground and was never able to regain the lost time.

“Things didn’t go according to plan,” he admitted. “I was planning six strides [from Fences] 2 to 3, and I caught the angle, had a bit of a shift and after the third to last fence going inside, he spooked a bit away from the bush. It just was a little bit not the the smoothest jump-off.”

McCrea ran into similar trouble. When he tried to go inside on a long turn back towards the in-gate, Aristoeles V spooked at the same arena decoration, throwing them off their line.

“I had two very fast riders in front of me that I see week in and week out, and when there’s only three you leave everything out there, you’ve got to have a go,” he said. “I made a mistake in the jump off and it cost me, but overall the horse jumped good.”

Aristoeles V and Jonathan McCrea stopped the timers at 40.41 to finish third in the AIG $1 Million Grand Prix

The Alan Wade-designed course saw rails throughout the course. Many fell victim to the 6AB and 13AB combinations. The Rubik’s cube vertical at Fence 9 fell seven times, only second in number of rails to fence 11, an airy vertical, which was lowered nine times. Nine riders had time faults, and three of those riders, Jeffrey Welles, Jenni McAllister and Eric Navet were clear over the fences, but went over the time allowed.

“I try to be fair to everyone,” said Wade. “I do they to build for the best combinations, but in a situation like this, at grand prix at this magnitude, you should have sense of achievement even if you have one rail or two rails down, that you feel your horse has learned something and you’ve learned something and also you feel that if you got a second shot at it you would have maybe gone clear. To do that you have to have the height.”

“I don’t think in this quality and level of a class there should be more than four clear, ever,” said Ward. “I don’t think it’s a class where you should have an 8, 10 horse jump-off. Yet he was able to do it in a very subtle way. He had poles throughout the course and that’s truly a mark of not only a very good course designer but a good horseman.”

The AIG Million wrapped up the HITS Thermal series. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of the April 4 issue of the Chronicle for in-depth coverage of the class and details about circuit champions.

In case you missed anything from the week, view more photos from today’s grand prix, learn about Kelley Farmer’s continued derby domination, read about Jaden Olson’s trip to the top of the R.W. Mutch Equitation Championship. Or check out the gallery from Thursday’s professional hunters.