Camilo Rueda Rides to Back-to-Back CSI2* Wins at Blenheim EquiSports
Camilo Rueda has made his California debut quite an impressive one this week at Blenheim EquiSports in San Juan Capistrano, CA.
Aboard Indus van het Keysereyck, the 29-year-old Colombian rider topped both the $25,000 CSI2* 1.45m Silver Tour Speed Stake on Thursday, April 6, and the $50,000 CSI2* 1.45m Silver Tour Grand Prix on Saturday, April 8.
“It’s unreal!” said Rueda, who recently made the move to California to work with Louise Sullivan at Hidden Hills Equestrian. “Winning two times in the big classes in the same week is just awesome, but also the other horses in the national classes were really good, so I have to say that it was one of the dream weeks that we expected.”
On his way to the win in Saturday’s finale event at the Blenheim Spring Classic I, Rueda was one of 18 entries from a 29-horse starting field to jump the first-round track without fault. From there, speed was the name of the game.
“It was a tough course; it wasn’t that easy when I walked it,” said Rueda of the track set by course designer Peter Holmes. “There were a lot of clears in the beginning, so I realized in that moment that it was going to be a really big, fast jump-off!”
Rueda had the benefit of returning to the Derby Field in the latter half of the jump-off, and when he entered the ring, the time to beat had been set at 38.17 seconds by Keri Potter and Quitana 11.
Rueda and Indus van het Keysereyck made short work of the course, leaving out strides in two locations, including down to the final oxer – which he flew over in 37.86 seconds to take the win.
“It makes it feel a little more impressive when you can beat that many participants with that speed! I took advantage of my horse’s stride; it’s massive,” said Rueda of the 15-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, owned by Rueda and Santiago Rueda Ucros. “This horse I have had for three years, and he has experience and has been with me at a lot of different shows around the world. He has been with me in Colombia, in Europe, and now here in California.”
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Blenheim EquiSports (theplacetojump.com)
