Traverse City, Michigan, USA – July 05, 2024 – Weekend competition at the Flintfields Horse Park during the premiere week of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (GLEF), presented by B&D Builders, kicked off on Friday with a victory for USA’s Daisy Farish and Quala vd Rollebeek in the $32,000 Welcome CSI 2*. The pair scored their second international victory in as many weeks in the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring as summer competition is hotting up at Traverse City Horse Shows. 

Twenty-three pairings performed their best over the first round of Ana Catalina Cruz’s (MEX) track. She set a steep challenge that saw only eight combinations produce a fault-free finish to advance to the tie-breaking jump-off. At the class’s completion, the victory gallop featured an all-American lineup with Farish leading the way aboard Lanes End Showjumping’s Quala vd Rollebeek. 

“Having this mare win the last two welcome ranking classes we did here is very impressive to me,” Farish admitted after also pocketing a two-star win during the third week of the Traverse City Spring Series in June. “These were her first two two-star weeks ever and she couldn’t have performed better.”

One of the younger athletes in the field at 23, Farish guided the eight-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Bamako de Muze x Vigo D’arsouilles) to a two-second lead over second-place finisher Lacey Gilbertson (USA).

Gilbertson, a Chicago native, rode to the red-ribbon honors with Seabrooks’ Karlin van’t Vennehof after producing a double-clear effort in 39.21 seconds on the 14-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Fantomas de Muze x Quasimodo van de Molendreef).

No stranger to a top-three finish, Samantha Schaefer (USA) and Bonne Chance LLC’s 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Douglas x Cash), James Bond HX, rounded out the lap of honor after finishing fractions off of the pace with their time of 39.47 seconds. 

Farish’s winning time was 37.83 seconds. “My plan today was honestly to give it my all,” she explained. “I risked it a bit and sent her for it fully in the jump-off, but she seems to jump better that way. I think stepping her up a level has actually improved her performance; the bigger the jumps are and the faster I go, she gets more game and seems to jump even better.

“I am going to take it easy on her for the rest of this year because I already know she has all of the scope in the world,” she continued. “I have no doubt she is going to jump some big grand prix in the future.” 

Competition across all arenas at Flintfields Horse Part will resume Saturday, July 6, as anticipation builds for Sunday’s $75,000 CSI2* Meijer Grand Prix. 

Final Results – $32,000 Welcome Stake CSI2*

1) Daisy Farish (USA) & Quala vd Rollebeek – 0 / 0 – 37.83

2) Lacey Gilbertson (USA) & Karlin van’t Vennehof – 0 / 0 – 39.21

3) Samantha Schaefer (USA) & James Bond HX – 0 / 0 – 39.47

Source: Press Release from Traverse City Horse Shows

Photos: © Megan Giese Photography / Andrew Ryback Photography

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Link