Conor O’Regan and Manchester Make Light Work of $40,000 CSI2* Welcome at HITS Hudson Valley
Under a clear blue sky, FEI CSI2* competition kicked off at HITS Hudson Valley VII on the morning of Thursday, August 28, 2025. Amidst the elite hunter, jumper, and equitation competition at the Saugerties, New York, venue, the seventh week of the summer series boasts a stacked list of top-tier sport, including three days of international show jumping, culminating in Saturday’s $80,000 Great American Insurance Group CSI2* Grand Prix. Headlining Thursday’s classes in the Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Stadium, a total of 40 pairings contested the opening track for the $40,000 CSI2* Welcome. At the completion of two intense rounds, Conor O’Regan’s (IRL) blazing fast time of 35.32 seconds with Manchester took the lead.
With five nations represented in the starting field, FEI Level 3 course designer Catsy Cruz (MEX) built a technical, yet inviting track to begin the week of star-studded international competition. With many pairings bringing their A-game over the first round, a total of 17 horse-and-rider combinations cleared Cruz’s course inside the time allowed to advance to the jump-off. With all three of her entries qualified, Mia Bagnato (USA) decided to save her first entry, Ballyoskill Big Bucks, for another day, leaving 16 duos to take on the short course.
Returning for the jump-off in the same order from which they qualified, the athletes did their best to lay down a quick and clear effort, but only seven managed to secure a double-clear score. Many of the remaining riders lowered the height of fence 13, a square oxer that was the final fence of round one and came as the third element of a trickier S-line in the jump-off, resulting in four faults across the course. O’Regan’s masterful navigation of the track, however, landed him clearly in front of the pack.
“Manchester is naturally quite a quick horse, so I wanted to have a really good, positive first jump,” explained O’Regan of his strategy with the Delshore Horses LLC’s 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Quidam de Revel x Codex). “He’s the type of horse that if he has a good first jump, then everything else flows really easily.
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