Nayel Nassar Notches Another Victory Qith Igor van de Wittemoere in $116,050 Purina CSI3* Grand Prix
The final day of international competition at the 2026 HITS Hudson Valley Jumping Tour™ crescendoed with a flourish on Saturday, August 1, as crowds gathered in mass around the iconic HITS Hudson Valley venue for the $116,050 Purina CSI3* Grand Prix. The beloved three-week series featured a weekly CSI3* division and a plethora of national hunter, jumper, and equitation offerings, along with a coveted World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) designation the second week. Spectators were treated to complimentary hospitality and a heart-racing competition in which Egypt’s Nayel Nassar emerged victorious with longtime partner, Igor van de Wittemoere.
FEI Level 4 course designer Olaf Petersen Jr. (GER) built to challenge the talented field of 32 horse-and-rider combinations, including multiple combinations, wide oxers, and a hefty triple-bar fence across the first-round track. Petersen Jr.’s test did it’s job well, forcing contenders to master both scope and efficiency in order to make it to the short course. Out of the six nations represented in the opening round, athletes riding for only three nationalities advanced to the jump-off. The majority of the eight pairings that managed to leave all jumps up and cross the timers within the allotted time represented the United States, while Beat Mändli stood as Switzerland’s only representative, and Nassar cleared the course for Egypt.
U.S. athlete McKayla Langmeier was the first in the short course order to successfully navigate the track fault-free and set the time to beat at 40.480 seconds. Her lead was short lived however, as Alex Matz (USA) stepped on the gas and edged her out of the top spot only one round later, taking almost two full seconds off of her time and stopping the clock in 38.760 seconds. Several challengers remained, but the rails continued to fall until Nassar was the last left to shoot his shot. As he has done many times, the Egyptian Olympian went full throttle, cleanly crossing the timers in 37.720 seconds and securing the win with Evergate Stables LLC’s 18-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Cooper van de Heffinck x Orlando).
“Igor has a ton of natural footspeed,” shared Nassar. “I watched both McKayla [Langmeier] and Alex [Matz] go, and I thought I could beat them kind of just with pace. I did end up having an extra stride in the first two lines, but I was able to keep it super neat the rest of the way.
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