Devon, Pa.—May 31  

Just 24 hours before the $50,000 Welcome Stake at the Devon Horse Show, McLain Ward was just flying in from Europe after having stormed to a dominant weekend at the Rome CSIO5*. The morning of the class, he took a few hours to teach some students and show some sales horses. 

Then, he got in the car and drove from his Brewster, N.Y., base down to Devon, Pa., and arrived just in time to place first and second in the 7 p.m. welcome stake with Tina la Boheme and Rothchild.

Tina la Boheme and McLain Ward jumped to the top of the $50,000 Welcome Stake at Devon. Photo by Molly Sorge

Ward hadn’t ridden Tina la Boheme and Rothchild since the Old Salem Farm Spring Shows, which ended on May 22 with Tina la Boheme winning the $130,000 Empire State Grand Prix there and Rothchild placing third. “Erica McKeever runs the barn and Oliver McCarthy rides the horses at home and shows some. It’s nice to be able to fly in, drive down here, and have the horses ready to go,” Ward said.

And ready they were. Ward made short work of the first round with both Tina and Rothchild, joining four other riders in the jump-off from the original starting list of 38. Ali Wolff showed the way in the jump-off, turning in a clear round in 39.51 seconds aboard Quirie with a mad dash down the long side to the last fence. 

But then Ward came in on Tina and shaved almost 3 seconds off her time without even galloping down the last line. Watch the video from USEF Network:

The only horse that came near to catching Tina’s time was Ward’s other ride, the veteran Rothchild. He stopped the timers with Ward in 39.18 seconds.

“I’m just kind of happy to be third! I’m happy to be in this company,” Wolff said as she joined Ward in the press conference after the class. 

“I’m so competitive that I can be my own worst enemy. If I see someone go, I get competitive and can get into trouble. If I’d seen McLain go before me, I’d probably not be sitting here!” Wolff said.

Ali Wolff rode Quirie into third place in the $50,000 Welcome Stake at Devon with an efficient jump-off round. Photo by Molly Sorge

It was just the second time Wolff has shown at Devon, and she was thrilled with the way Quirie stepped up to the demands of the FEI-rated open jumper class. “We’re struggling with a few minor injuries to a few horses right now. So he was my third-string horse but he’s stepped up to kind of be first-string,” Wolff said of Quirie. “We were struggling to get around the 1.40-meter classes last year, so I’m very proud of how far he’s come. He’s really put on his big boy pants and he’s been super confident.”

Ward bought Tina la Boheme (Calvaro Z—Lutine du Manoir, Arpege Pierreville HN) last fall in partnership with legendary hunter trainer and judge Artie Hawkins, who is a close family friend. The 10-year-old mare won her first grand prix with Ward at Old Salem. “She’s related to Night Train, and there are some similarities,” Ward said. Tina la Boheme is by the same stallion—Calvaro Z—as Night Train, a horse that competed successfully at the grand prix level with Denis Lynch of Ireland, Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil and Darragh Kerins of Ireland.

“They’re both very strong and careful jumpers with good technique and at the same time quite brave. I have a soft spot in my heart for Night Train; I bought him originally and rode him for a bit. I’ve had a lot of luck with that bloodline.”

Tina la Boheme and McLain Ward turning tight to the last line to win the $50,000 Welcome Stake. Photo by Molly Sorge

See full results of the $50,000 Welcome Stake.

The highlight of the open jumper division at Devon is the $225,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon on the evening of Thursday, June 2. Stay tuned to www.coth.com all week for coverage of the open and amateur hunters, the Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon, and so much more. Check out all the Chronicle’sonline coverage of Devon Junior Weekend. Find full results from all of Devon at Ryegate and check out full analysis of the whole show in the June 20 issue of the magazine.