Syracuse, N.Y., Nov. 6

Margie Engle’s not known for going slow, but she’s getting used to it. And it’s paying off, as careful and conservative won the day for her in the $100,000 Detwiler Fenton World Cup Qualifier of Syracuse presented by G&C Farm.

Engle rode Indigo to the top of a three-horse jump-off against two international challengers, Harrie Smolders of the Netherlands and Marie Hecart of France. Hecart and Smolders made Engle’s life a little easy, pulling a rail each in the jump-off.

“I had the fortunate position of going last after they’d both had a rail,” Engle said. “Mine’s still a little green at this level, so I thought that rather than going fast and taking the chance of having a rail, I’d go medium and try and go clean. He’s a very clean jumper. I haven’t gone fast with him that many times; I’ve just started to do that with him, so I figured I’d be better to be safe than sorry. He’s an amazing little horse.”

Engle bought Indigo sight unseen in February from Australia. The 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood by Indoctro had been jumping in smaller grand prix classes there and Dutch dealer Willy van der Ham recommended the gray gelding to Engle. Indigo jumped in a few 1.40-meter classes at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.) after arriving in the United States, then promptly won the $50,000 Grand Prix of Tampa CSI-W (Fla.) in early April. “He’s coming along much faster than I expected. I think he’s one of the smartest horses I’ve ever had,” Engle said.

Engle’s in the top five of the East Coast North American FEI World Cup standings, and she’s strongly considering making the FEI World Cup Final in Leipzig, Germany, in April a goal for 2011. “This was a big enough course for a small ring. That was probably one of the biggest courses we’ve done at indoors. It was a legitimate World Cup class,” she said.

Hecart was the first to go clear over the testing Round 1 course, but she couldn’t replicate the effort in the jump-off. Aboard Myself de Breve, she made it clear she was going fast, but the bouncy chestnut punched out the front rail of the last oxer in the jump-off. She had the fastest time of the night, 35.51 seconds, but the 4 faults kept her in second.

“I just wanted to be at the right speed for my horse. I didn’t want to be too fast, but I had to take a chance because I was first to go,” Hecart said. “I think he just got a bit fast and flat to the last jump. When I watched Margie go, I thought ‘She knows what to do!’” said Hecart. The French rider had been based in Canada for four years, riding for Eric Lamaze, but this spring started her own business and is based in Ridgefield, Conn., at Double H Farm.

Smolders traveled from the Netherlands for the U.S. fall indoor circuit, and won the Empire Tractor Ride and Drive earlier in the day. He rode Exquis Power Fee as second to jump off, and looked to be on target to take the lead. But the back rail of a wide oxer came tumbling down, putting 4 faults on the board for him. “I tried to put some pressure on Margie, but that oxer was really wide. I came out of the corner and thought ‘Jeez.’ I was a bit deep to it and had it down,” Smolders said. His time was almost a second slower than Hecart’s, putting him third.

Check out a hilarious photo gallery from Syracuse here.

And tune in on Sunday, Nov. 7, for round-by-round coverage of the ASPCA Maclay Finals.