Alex Granato, Caelinn Leahy and Aaron Vale Named Winners of the $300,000 Split Rock Series Championships at Split Rock Sarasota CSI2*
The Lugano Diamonds Split Rock Jumping Tour (SRJT) concluded Split Rock Sarasota CSI2* with its inaugural $300,000 Split Rock Championship series in the Grand Prix Arena at TerraNova Equestrian Center. Nearly 140 entries contested the championships, with awards at heights of 1.35m, 1.25m and 1.15m going to Alex Granato, Caelinn Leahy and Aaron Vale, respectively.
Canada’s Peter Holmes set the tracks for the $300,000 Split Rock Championship which followed a winning-round format. The top 25% of each section returned for the jump-off round in reverse order.
An exciting afternoon concluded with the $100,000 1.35m Championship with 32 entries, allowing slots for eight combinations to return in the second round. Only four jumped a clear round across the first track and of the three events of the day, it was the only championship to include four-fault finishers in the jump-off round.
Martien Van Der Hoeven and Daytona S.E. (Durrant x EnDiva – Torneschwere), owned by Jill Shulman, were the first of the round-one clear pairs to return, jumping around in 44.368 seconds. Haley Hammer followed, crossing the timers with her own Royale du Rouet (Jeff d’Or x Nouveaute du Rouet – Kannanin) 42.466 seconds. Next, Kaitlyn Williams and her own Cassio Melloni (Caretino x Ornelia – Cassini I) edged ahead in 42.041 seconds.
The last to go, Granato and King Van Het Keizershof (Clearway x Werry van het Keizershof – Phin Phin), owned by Kisma Equestrian LLC, blazed across the beam in 38.079 seconds to earn the win by more than four seconds. Williams took second, Hammer in third and Van Der Hoeven placed fourth.
“I’ve been lucky enough to see Derek [Braun] start with his one-day shows at his home farm and seeing what he’s developed just here in the U.S. with a new idea every year, a different leg, and the addition of this series,” Granato said.” It helps [the riders] with a great payoff.”
It was Granato’s first experience at TerraNova Equestrian Center. “I was really impressed,” he said. “I think the rings, the venue, the barns, the setting are beautiful. It’s really nice to see the amount of space here. It’s close to Ocala. It’s close to Wellington, so it’s not hard to get to. But having all those venues right at our fingertips, it’s a little hard to tear yourself away. But seeing what has been built here, it’ll be something we’ll try to add to our roster a little more.”
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Press Releases – Terra Nova Equestrian
