Camilo Rueda and Chocoprince of Picobello Z Capture Win in $75,000 C3RV Grand Prix
Camilo Rueda and Chocoprince of Picobello Z claimed the win in the $75,000 C3RV Grand Prix by just one-tenth of a second on Saturday night, March 21, at Desert International Horse Park.
As one of the featured events of Desert Spring Fling 1, the class drew 39 entries to contest a Chris Jones-designed track under the lights of the Grand Prix Stadium. Of those 39 horses, five advanced to the jump-off round, where the time to beat got increasingly faster.
When Rueda and Chocoprince of Picobello Z returned to the ring, Ali Ramsay and Domina VH Scheefkasteel Z had just taken over the lead with a time of 37.556 seconds. Rueda, however, had a good sense of what he needed to do to get the win.
“In the beginning, I wasn’t planning to turn inside to the last one, but I saw that the previous riders did it,” said Rueda. “My plan actually was trying to do a leave out for the last line and just going around so I could be a little bit quicker, but I thought if everyone was doing [the inside turn], I had to take a shot! It paid off. I didn’t end up needing the leave out for the last line, so it was a little bit the luck of being the second to last [rider to jump].”
With the same inside turn taken as Ramsay, Rueda shaved off just enough time – 0.104 seconds – to ultimately take the win with a time of 37.452 seconds. Ramsay and Domina VH Scheefkasteel Z, owned by Windermere Stables LTD, maintained second place, and Kassidy Keith and her own Havana took home third on 38.939 seconds.
“Over the fences, he’s just a solid, brave horse,” said Rueda of the 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding, owned by Picobello Horses. “Today, I was really happy with it being his first time under the lights. He showed me that he’s ready for this type of class, so I was pretty happy. I’m really happy to have such a strong team behind me that makes this possible.”
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