Mill Spring, North Carolina, USA – July 10, 2024 – Charging to the win in Tryon Stadium, it was Hallie Grimes (USA) and Karoline of Ballmore (Diarado x Convento Van De Helle), owned by Can We Keep It? LLC, who were fastest in the $32,000 ProElite Welcome Stake CSI 2*, finishing with 35.77 seconds on the clock.

Welcome Stake winner Hallie Grimes (USA) shared that her equine partner’s extensive career was  According to Grimes, the Belgian Warmblood mare known as “Korra”, “has a lot of experience with a lot of different riders. She can be a bit tricky, so I consider myself quite lucky to have been picked by her. She’s given me plenty of experience, and she was great today – she’s so fast.” 

Fractions of a second behind the top-scoring team, Amanda Derbyshire (GBR) and her own 2012 Zangersheide stallion, Otto BH (Norton D’ Eole x Toulon), marked a second place time of 36.17 seconds.

Completing the top three with a time of 36.94 seconds was Ashlee Bond (ISR) and Night Wish (Unknown x Unknown), Aurora Farms’ 2016 Hanoverian gelding.  

Grimes relied on the Belgian Warmblood mare’s footspeed to make up for the jump off’s challenging time constraints. “A lot of the horses were doing eight strides to the last fence,” she explained. “I tried to catch Amanda [Derbyshire], and was kicking the whole way, and I couldn’t quite get there. I did nine strides, and Korra was quick enough and clever enough to get that done and still be fast.”

Acknowledging the team surrounding her and Karoline of Ballmore, Grimes noted that “Nickki O’Donovan is the very best. She’s my barn manager. She’s been with me for about a year and a half now, and she was here today, and I think that made it extra special.”

“This was my first ranking class win! I’m really thankful for my team back at home, Sarah Scheiring especially – I’m thankful for all of them,” Grimes added.

Final Results – $32,000 ProElite Welcome Stake CSI 2*

1) Hallie Grimes (USA) & Karoline of Ballmore – 0 / 0 – 35.77

2) Amanda Derbyshire (GBR) & Otto BH – 0 / 0 – 36.17

3) Ashlee Bond (ISR) & Night Wish – 0 / 0 – 36.94

Source: Press Release by Jane Montgomery & Rette Solomon for Tryon International 

Photos: © TIEC / Bailey Beck for Natalie Suto Photography

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