The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are just a little more than a year away, so the top U.S. riders are making sure their stalls are occupied with horses capable of helping the U.S. team win medals.

McLain Ward, who won team gold at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games aboard the Sapphire, is always on the hunt for horses to fill that great mare’s shoes (or try to!). In recent years, the gutsy Rothchild has stepped up, earning some major wins and helping the U.S. team take bronze and placing fifth individually in the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. “Rothchild has been spectacular, but he’s going to be 15 next year,” Ward said. “It’s not out of the cards for that to be a goal for him, but it’d be a bit of a stretch.”

So, Ward’s been shopping. And on May 10, one of his new prospects, HH Azur, checked off a box on her “getting ready for Rio” list, winning the $50,000 Old Salem Grand Prix in North Salem, N.Y.

HH Azur is a horse Ward thinks has the talent to be a real star. The bay mare is a 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood bred by Nathalie Beaufort in Belgium (Thunder van de Zuuthoeve—Sion van de Zuuthoeve, Sir Lui). Her name was Azur Garden’s Horses until Hunter Harrison of Double H Farm bought half of her and imported her for Ward to ride, changing her name to HH Azur.

The mare was developed in Europe by Francois Mathy, with Brazilian rider Pedro Nolasco and Spanish rider Diego Perez-Bilbao bringing her up to the 1.45-meter level. Mathy, who has been Ward’s go-to source for horses for decades, still owns a half-share in the mare.

We caught up with Ward about his high hopes for HH Azur and what else is in the barn:

Chronicle: Tell us about HH Azur. What’s special about her?

McLain Ward: We’re really excited about her. The horse absolutely does not have one weakness and I’ve never seen that before. Other than maybe experience, she’s not missing any part of the equation.

We always say there are five qualities that can make a horse into a top horse, and most, even the best, have only have four. It’s very rare to see them be careful, scopey, rideable, brave and sound all in one package.

There’s also that quality of them understanding what they’re being asked to do, and she has that. She also is a real blood horse without being hot. There’s no bottom to her; she finished the grand prix at Old Salem bucking after both rounds out of freshness. We talk about championships as long-term goals and horses that do that have to go for four or five days in a row and stay fresh. That’s something that’s difficult to achieve, especially with the carefulness of the courses these days.

Where did HH Azur come from?

A few things had to come together for her and I to become partners. We’d looked at her as a 5-year-old but didn’t buy her then. It just wasn’t the moment. She was a great jumper but she was very green then.

Young horses you buy or don’t buy a lot of time not just because of their talent, but also because of your personal situation–is it the right moment? Does it work for the client? There are a lot of factors that go into deciding if you do or don’t buy a very young horse.

Francois Mathy ended up buying her himself and producing her for a few years. Francois is very fond of the horse, and he’s in a situation in Europe where he doesn’t mind being patient and letting them develop. The cost of developing a horse there is much less than it is here.

Last fall he called me and told me he thought she was very special. I tried her after Paris [in December] and Hunter bought half of her. She’s a very exciting horse and it’s a great situation to have those two gentlemen own that mare together. 

Watch HH Azur showing as a 6-year-old with Nolasco…

What have you done with HH Azur this year?

We got her mid-Florida and I showed her in a few 1.50-meter classes and she was clear just about every round. I went to Thermal [Calif.] for the million class so she had a few quiet weeks. I showed her the last week of the [Winter Equestrian Festival] at 1.50-meters and she was fourth and second. But by the time she was up and running in Wellington, it was too late in the circuit to start a young horse in the big grand prix classes.

We had a game plan for her and so far she’s been everything we could have hoped and even a bit better.

How do you make a plan for a special horse like her?

I’ve been counting back from Rio and making plans since she arrived in the country. This horse was definitely bought with Rio in mind and probably the next decade in mind.

She shows again at Old Salem and then she’ll go to Spruce Meadows [Alberta]. We have a game plan for her through the end of the summer and we’ll keep trying to meet certain benchmarks we’ve set. Following the Masters in September, we’ll assess where she is and what’s needed in her development and then make her schedule from there with Rio definitely in mind. 

How did the two weeks of spring shows at Old Salem fit into Azur’s plan?

Old Salem is obviously right down the road from my farm in Brewster, N.Y., and it has always been a great prep for Spruce Meadows or going off to Europe with their wonderful grass field.

The efforts that have been put forth at that facility by the owners is spectacular. The place is first class all the way. They have a mindset like Spruce Meadows, to make improvements and to make it better, not to just give you what’s there. I think it’s one of the best facilities we have in country, with a great management team. You see some of the top riders in the country, like Beezie [Madden] and myself, come here every year because we enjoy it. 

What other horses do you have lined up for the future?

We have another 8-year-old mare, Desfi, who is super quality and very careful.

I bought a horse at the end of the Florida circuit, Troya Retiro, who is 10 this year and jumped on the Colombian team [with Juan Pablo Betancourt] at the [Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup in Ocala, Fla.] and had just one down in the [Great American $1 Million Grand Prix in Ocala]. I think he has a lot of talent and my godmother, Susan Heller, and I bought that one together.

We sold HH Cannavaro [who won the $100,000 Empire State Grand Prix at Old Salem last year]. We had a nice year with him and then he was sold to Destry Spielberg as a Young Rider horse.

So, I have a nice group of horses now. I enjoy all of them and I think they can do some great things in the next few years.