Bottom Line Moves To The Top In $300,000 Grand Prix Of The Desert

Jill Henselwood had the obvious disadvantage of going first in both rounds of the $300,000 Grand Prix Of The Desert, held March 14 at HITS Thermal. It didn’t hamper her performance, however, and Henselwood and Bottom Line turned in two fault-free turns over Olaf Petersen’s courses in the Grand Prix ring and took home the top check.

“I hate going first!” Henselwood said after the class. “It’s a big advantage to be at the end of the class.”

PUBLISHED

March 14, 2010
7:46 pm

WORDS BY

Lisa Slade

“I hate going first!” Henselwood said after the class. “It’s a big advantage to be at the end of the class.”

Henselwood, Oxford Mills, Ont., said Bottom’s Line biggest asset is her natural speed, and it helped her best the field of 41 horses today. Speed paid off most in the jump-off round when five out of the seven turned in clear rounds. Henselwood’s time was the fastest, 40.153 seconds, but Guy Thomas and Peterbilt weren’t far behind her with a time of 40.665.

“The biggest opportunity with that horse is that she’s fast,” Henselwood, an Olympic Games veteran, said. “She was born out of her mother fast. Slowing her down is the big thing. You have to get her to be patient and take her time, especially towards the end. Once she’s made a really big effort, it’s like her energy comes up. She needs to learn to not use herself up and not make it hard on me.”

Numerous riders had rails in the quadruple combination set for the first round. But Henselwood simply relied on her riding history and made it look easy.

“I’m an Ian Miller protégé,” Henselwood said. “I was born and raised on gymnastics. When somebody says, ‘Oh, you jump all those in a row,’ I say, ‘Well, yeah, that’s what we do to teach them how to jump.’ Four, five, six elements, that’s right up my alley.”

Henselwood hopes to make the 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games (Ky.) team with Bottom Line, an 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Bradon Construction Ltd. If she doesn’t make the team, she will almost certainly contest the $1,000,000 Pfizer Grand Prix at HITS Saugerties (N.Y.).

Many of the usual West Coast riders, including Rich Fellers, Ashlee Bond and Will Simpson, are on the East Coast, competing in World Equestrian Games’ trials at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.), meaning the HITS Thermal grand prix was missing some big names. But Henselwood wasn’t too distraught over their absences.

“I didn’t miss them,” she joked.

Results:

1. Bottom Line/Jill Henselwood/Bradon Construction Ltd.

2. Peterbilt/Guy Thomas/Peterbilt LLC

3. Cantano/Susan Hutchison/El Dorado 29

4. Southern Pride/ Karen Cudmore/Blair Cudmore

5. Aragon Rouet/Andre Thieme/Andre Thieme

6. Rockford I/Keri Potter/Keri Potter

7. Caballo/Helen McNaught/Helen McNaught

8. S.F. Shakira/Michael Endicott/David Robinson

9. Riptide/Jenni Martin-McAllister/Kyle King

10. London/ Jeff Campf/Oz Investments