North Salem, N.Y.—Sept. 12  

• He just won the $85,000 Fidelity Investments Classic at the American Gold Cup with Laura Kraut (You can see full results of the class here.). His barnmate, Deauville S, is scheduled to jump in the $215,000 Longines FEI World Cup qualifier tomorrow, so “this was his grand prix this week, so I was always going to go in and go as fast as I could,” Kraut said.

Laura Kraut and Andretti S’s turns were the key to their win in the $85,000 Fidelity Investments Classic. Photo by Molly Sorge

• Kraut’s version of “fast” was pretty much bionic, as divots of turf flew in the turns as Andretti S dug in. “I thought from 1 to 2 I went really fast. I thought I had an uncomfortably fast gallop to the second jump,” Kraut said with a laugh. “All the turns worked–sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t. You like to think that you’re orchestrating everything, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. But he turned perfectly and it was his day.”
• He’s a freaky jumper. “He’s learned to be more economical, because last year he used to go over the top of the standards. He would fling himself over the jumps. I never really knew when he was going to do that. But this year he’s getting more consistency. And hopefully he’ll keep going in this direction,” Kraut said.
• Schooling areas are not fun for him. “He’s afraid of other horses in the warm-up area, so that used to be a big problem,” Kraut said. “But he’s gotten a lot better about that now.

Andretti S dug in for Laura Kraut on their way to the top of the $85,000 Fidelity Investments Classic at the American Gold Cup. Photo by Molly Sorge

• He’s had a blip in his career. Kraut started showing Andretti S, 10, last year and he progressed from the 1.-35-meter level to the grand prix classes very quickly. He finished up 2014 jumping at grand prix classes on the indoor circuit. So, he earned a two-month vacation. “I thought ‘I’ve gone really strong with him for eight months; I’ll just put him in the field and let him relax,” Kraut said.

  But coming back into work in February didn’t go well. “When he came back everything went south,” Kraut said.

  “He had a breathing issue, partial paralysis of his larynx, that had to get operated on. I had just gotten him going after his break and we had to come to a grinding halt to deal with that. That took a month and a half, then he had a bruised heel that took a while to resolve. Finally, in July, he started to get back with some form of consistency.”

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• Kraut’s got high hopes for him. “He missed half the year, so I’m playing catch-up with him. Right now he feels like he did when he finished last year, so if he keeps developing like this, I think he can be really good,” she said. “The horse can jump anything; he’s got all the scope.”
• He’s got a big heart. “He’s quirky, but he wants to try. Sometimes he doesn’t always get how to do something, but he will do anything to go over a jump,” Kraut said. “And that’s a really nice thing to have.”
• He’s a Dutch-bred Dutch Warmblood (Corland—Tabelle S, Animo), but he was jumping in England with British rider Kayleigh Watts when Kraut found him.
• He also jumps in puissance classes, and placed second in one at the Verbier CSI (France) in August.
• Talented as Andretti is, 2008 Olympic team gold medalist Cedric’s still the king of Kraut’s barn. “Cedric is in England, hanging out. He had a little bit of an injury in Falsterbo in the jump-off of the grand prix, so I’m not sure I’ll use him as a grand prix horse anymore,” Kraut said. 
  
  “He tweaked a hind fetlock a bit, nothing catastrophic, but I’ll never push him. He’s back in work. We’ll get to Florida and I’ll ask him what classes he’d like to do. He’ll do whatever he wants to do. It was a pity because he was as good as ever. I felt like he was 10 again.”

Paul O’Shea claimed second aboard Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu. Photo by Molly Sorge

After her win, Laura Kraut took time to not only sign autographs, but also to chat with some young fans. Photo by Molly Sorge

Colombia’s Roberto Teran rode Woklahoma into third place. Photo by Molly Sorge

Check out a video of Margie Engle jumping through the triple combination, which was the scene of many rails. She and Indigo ended up in seventh in the class…