By the time Sulu Rose and Watch This stepped into the arena to tackle Linda Allen’s course in the $30,000 Duke Children’s Benefit Grand Prix, Nov. 13 in Raleigh, N.C., 19 others had already tried and failed.

Many riders ran into trouble at the triple combination that ended with a tall vertical. Others, including Rose and one of her previous mounts, had problems with the last fence, an intimidating skinny vertical just seven strides after a Swedish oxer.

As Rose and Watch This headed for the problematic final fence carrying a fault-free round, she knew she had put herself in position to win.

“I was definitely thinking I could go clear,” Rose said. “The last line walked dead on in six strides, but the six seemed like suicide. I jumped the Swedish oxer going into the line a little toward the wall to give myself more room to fit in the seven. As I was coming down the last line I was thinking, ‘I better do a good job.’ “

Rose’s strategy paid off when the third of her gray geldings posted the class’s only clean round.

Watch This is an unlikely mix of breeds, especially for the grand prix show jumping ranks–half Shire and half Thoroughbred. Despite his unassuming look, Watch This, a horse Rose owns with several friends and family members, ranks at the top of her stable of grand prix mounts.

“He’s my best horse; he’s the one that has jumped the most clear rounds,” Rose said. “To look at him you wouldn’t think he could jump anything, but he’s my most careful horse. He’s a freak.”

Although a talented jumper, Watch This is not the swiftest of Rose’s mounts. “I was thrilled to have the only clear round,” Rose admitted.

While Rose was content not to jump-off, Allen would have preferred to see a few more horses go clean and was surprised that the course posed such a challenge. In Allen’s opinion, the grand prix course was neither bigger nor more difficult than the welcome stake held earlier in the week that produced nine clear first rounds.

“From a spectator or course designer’s stand point it would have been nice to have had a jump-off,” Allen said. “Several others didn’t miss by very much. The four-fault rounds jumped well, but just had one potentially small error. [Rose] settled down and gave a relaxed, confident ride, and that’s exactly what this course needed.”

Rose’s other two mounts, both owned by The Galloping Field, put in solid four-fault performances. Rose finished third with Cool Waters and sixth with Ganon.

This was Rose’s first big win since the birth of her daughter, Addison Reed, on May 14. Rose returned to the saddle just a few weeks later. In June, Rose proved that she was getting back to her old form with a third-placed finish on Watch This in the $25,000 NCHJA Grand Prix (N.C.).

Comeback Kid

Katie McDaniel was forced to take a long break from riding after severely breaking her jaw while showing this summer. McDaniel’s mouth was wired shut for six weeks, and she was unable to ride for four weeks. In fact, she was only able to start schooling her horses 10 days before the Duke show.

The short preparation time didn’t stop the 16-year-old from capturing the children’s jumper championship on her Polish Warmblood, Algebra.

“I wasn’t nervous at all about getting back on,” McDaniel said. “I seemed more determined; I wanted to prove to everyone that I was OK.”

The pair also won the ACL/ NAL/WIHS Children’s Jumper Classic and placed second in the ACL Children’s Jumper Final.

McDaniel credits their consistency on Algebra’s ability to make quick turns. “He’s like an equitation horse–slow, easy and soft,” McDaniel said. “He can just canter around and be 3 seconds faster than the rest of the class just by making great turns.”

McDaniel, who is home schooled, spends hours a day working at her parent’s barn and riding her horses. She hopes that her dedication will help her to follow in the footsteps of her idol Jenny Jones. Jones began her riding career under the tutelage of Judy Young, who is now McDaniel’s trainer.

“I was 12 when Jenny aged out of the juniors, so I didn’t know her long, but I remember all of the stories about her,” McDaniel said. “I want to be like her.”

A Family Affair

When any member of the Ellis family enters the show ring, you can bet they’ve got a cheering section. Nick Ellis was champion in the amateur-owner, 36 and over, division and grand amateur champion with Leonardo. Meanwhile, his wife Effie placed well in the adult amateur, 46 and over division, and his daughter Sassy had top ribbons in the amateur-owner, 18-35, division.

“Effie is always standing around the jumps when I’m schooling, and I’m there when she or Sassy is going,” Nick said. “I think I get and give as much constructive advice as the trainers do.”

Nick’s job as president of a biotech firm kept him from seriously campaigning on the show circuit until now. When his company wrapped up a project that produced the newest generation of HIV drugs, Nick decided to focus on horses for a while.

Nick intends to go back to work, but for now he’s enjoying being a competitive force in both the hunters and jumpers. In addition to his success with Leonardo, Nick won a high junior/amateur-owner jumper class on Gepardieu.

“I’m amazed at how hard it is to be a true amateur and riding one horse at one or two shows a month,” Nick said. “Riding two horses and going three weekends a month is a lot easier.”

Alex Butterworth is another competitor who benefited from multiple rides. The 10-year-old rode her own Millpond Sugar & Spice to the small pony hunter championship and piloted Merrill Pischke’s Johnny Bravo to the reserve championship.

“Sugar” is a 7-year-old roan that Butterworth has been riding for about a year. The mare and her tiny rider won all four over fences classes on their way to clinching the championship.

Butterworth, who rides with Pat Dodson and Keith Hastings, finds Sugar to be a simple ride. “She’s sweet; she’ll do whatever you ask her to do,” Butterworth said.

While Butterworth has had plenty of time to get used to her own pony, she had never ridden Johnny Bravo before the Duke show.

“I wasn’t sure what he was going to be like,” Butterworth said. “But the first time I rode him he was easy, just like my ponies.”

Johnny Bravo’s trainer, Kitty Barker, agreed that the two hit it off immediately. “She’s a very natural rider,” Barker said. “She just jumped on him and off she went.”