For most of the $25,000 Memorial Day Classic Grand Prix, it looked like Hap Hansen was going to be the winner with Linda Smith’s Cacao. As the fourth rider to tackle Scott Starnes’ course, Hansen left all the rails up but posted 2 time faults in the finale of the Memorial Day Classic, May 24-28.

The triple combination, set at the end of the course toward the in-gate, caused more than half of the 20-horse field to drop a rail. But then, with only three horses left to go and a sell-out audience hoping for a jump-off, Ashlee Bond and Tommy Gun jumped around faultlessly.

Right on her heels, Mark Watring galloped into the ring on Sapphire. “For once I loved the triple [combination],” Watring said with a laugh. “The triple was short, and I could sit right up. It was good for Sapphire.”

The gray gelding easily handled the course and assured a jump-off.

Bond, on her father’s homebred bay gelding, zipped around the jump-off course, but three rails down opened the door for Watring.

A capacity audience encircled the grass field, and they cheered as Sapphire returned for the speed test. On the turn back to the final oxer, Watring eased up on the pace, and Sapphire easily cleared the final jump.

“I just love it here and the grass is perfect,” said Watring of the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. “Whenever there is a crowd it is nice to do well.”

The win was especially gratifying for Watring, as he is getting ready to go the Pan Am Games in Brazil late in July. As a repre-sentative for Puerto Rico, Watring is the defending gold medalist and hopes to once again qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Bond was thrilled with her second-placed finish. Although she has some grand prix experience, she took a 21⁄2 year break from riding. “I got burned out, and I lost the passion,” she said.

She spent time working for her mother doing script work and tried to put the horses out of her mind. During a trip to New Zealand last fall, she went riding, and the flame reignited. “I rode and had fun. Riding has been second nature to me for my entire life. I needed a job so I decided to come back and ride and teach,” she said.

She has a handful of clients and several nice horses her father, Steve, has bred. Bond also finished fourth with her father’s Southern Girl.

Nicoletta Von Heidegger was named Best Junior Rider, and she also led the victory gallop in the $10,000 hunter classic aboard her mare, Clementine. Although Von Heidegger was planning to skip the classic in lieu of attending a friend’s birthday party, her trainers, Joe Thorpe and Keri Kampsen, convinced her that she could be fashionably late.

Jenny Karazissis rode Oracle to second in the classic after clinching the second year green hunter championship.

“Clementine is so smooth and easy to ride,” said Von Heidegger. “I also really like her because she is a real girl. We both have attitudes!”

The Memorial Day Classic hosts a number of special classes, including the unique Memorial Day Equitation Challenge. Thirteen teams, each comprised of a junior, an amateur, and a professional, vied for a trip to Maui, and competition was fierce.

On the first night, Van Vleck’s BFFs (Best Friends Forever) took a commanding lead with Kelly Van Vleck as their professional rider. However, in the second round misfortune befell them and opened the door for the other teams.

The Castaways—Nick Haness (profess-ional), Katie Gardner (amateur), and Shelby Wakeman (junior)—found the winning route. “This is a really fun class,” said Haness. “Riding as a team is so different from what we usually do.”

Like many of the riders, Haness felt an unusual amount of pressure. “Katie and Shelby were both really good in the second round, and I knew they were relying on me. At least I do well under pressure!” he said.
Haness is enjoying his first year as a professional. “I really enjoy teaching and watching the clients do well.

I am also getting to ride some nice horses,” he said, including Kendra Arnold’s Catapult, who Haness rode in the team class.

Haness is very excited about his week’s stay at the Marriott’s Maui Ocean Resort. “I haven’t been on a vacation in a while. I told my mom it was my goal to do well in this class, so I will probably take her with me.”

Alison Locke topped the junior/amateur-owner jumper classic with Polymiro. For Locke, the win was especially gratifying as she noted she was easily twice the age of most of the riders.

Locke enjoys traveling to Europe to find nice horses to import and show in the amateur ranks. “I get videos and bring them home to my trainers to look at. From there we usually choose a horse that will be suitable for me,” she said.

Elizabeth Dickinson captured the low junior/amateur-owner jumper classic with her new horse, Corrada. The win clinched the Best Amateur-Owner Rider title for Dickinson. Devon Manze reprised her Best Child Rider title for the second year in a row, and Hannah Von Heidegger followed in her older sister’s footsteps when she was named Best Pony Rider.