Aaron Vale & Carissimo Rise High in the $1,000,000 MLSJ Coachella Cup Grand Prix CSI 5*

By jumpernewz on December 9, 2024

Thermal, California, USA – December 07, 2024 – The 2024 Major League Show Jumping came to an end last Saturday with the running of the $1,000,000 MLSJ Coachella Cup Grand Prix CSI 5*, presented by Brown Advisory at Desert International Horse Park (DIHP).

Ultimately finishing in second place with a time of 40.48 seconds were Aaron Vale (USA) and Carissimo 25, owned by The Carissimo Group. Fourth place went to another American, Laura Kraut (USA) aboard her 2024 Paris Olympics mount Baloutinue while Lucy Davis Kennedy (USA) finished in fifth.

The winning pair, Ashlee Bond (ISR) and Donatello 141 one of 40 entries to take on the class, held in conjunction with Major League Show Jumping. From within the starting field – which included many Olympians and top-ranked riders from around the world – 12 horses advanced to jump-off over the short course designed by Olaf Petersen Jr. (GER. Then, the large crowd at the Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, CA, was treated to a display of showjumping at its finest.

Second-place finisher Vale was quick to echo similar sentiments of his horse, Carissimo 25, and he also spoke highly of his first time competing at the Desert International Horse Park.

“It’s a wonderful horse,” said Vale of the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding. “I’m so close to getting exactly where I want to be, but there’s still a little hunger left! I’ve had a lot of close ones with one down, second place, third place, but what a fun night of jumping. I’m thrilled to be in California. I’ve never shown here, so what an exciting night. Hats off to Ashlee.

“It’s just really impressive [here],” continued Vale. “You just get a feel that the management and upper staff, they want it to be good; they want you to be happy. The amenities are great. I got to say this is the best VIP I’ve seen. It’s just wonderful. You really feel welcomed. It makes you want to come back.”

In that same regard, Desert International Horse Park President and CEO Steve Hankin concluded, “When we started five years ago, if you had said this is where we would be right now, I think people would’ve said you were crazy. We built a nice horse park, and what Aaron said about the feeling here – that we want people here and we want to take care of them and have great time – it means the world to me, because that’s so, so important to us. The ultimate goal was to bring great sport to California. It’s desperately needed it. I think we took a pretty big step forward this year in bringing great sport here. It just doesn’t get any better than to have this group of riders here with this class and to have Ashlee win it.”

Final Results – $1,000,000 MLSJ Coachella Cup Grand Prix CSI 5*

1) Ashlee Bond (ISR) & Donatello 141 – 0 / 0 – 39.33

2) Aaron Vale (USA) & Carissimo 25 – 0 / 0 – 40.48

3) Mark Bluman (COL) & Ubiluc – 0 / 0 – 40.91

FULL RESULTS

Source: Press Release from Desert International Horse Park