January 27, 2018 
Most riders aim for a good experience in their first World Cup Grand Prix. Luis Alejandro Plascencia (MEX) went for the win.
The 26-year-old rider made his debut in the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping North American League at the Triple Copa Scappino CSI4* in Guadalajara, Mexico on Saturday. Riding Davinci, he bested a field of 28 to take home the win on homesoil.
And the rookie rider did it on an unproven horse, no less.
Davinci is a 10-year-old KWPN stallion that Plascencia found in Europe in 2016, where he was campaigning under Dutch rider Roosje Brouwer. The horse had only jumped in one CSI3* Grand Prix previously.
“He was very green when I got him, very difficult,” said Plascencia. “But I saw a lot of talent in him, so I dedicated twice the time I dedicated to any of my other horses and he’s coming up with the goods now.”
Deliver he did. The bay stallion was one of only two double clears over Guilherme Jorge’s course.
©Anwar Esquivel
Of the seven to qualify for the jump off, Mexico’s Gustavo Ramos was first to post a clear in the jump off, stopping the clock at 42.50 seconds with Izzy Miaki. It was a time Plascencia felt confident he could beat.
“I knew my horse was naturally going to be faster than Gustavo’s. That gave me a little bit of calm. I came in very confident that I was going to beat him without going crazy,” he said. “The last one to go—[Sarah Scheiring and Dontez]—I saw the horse was a little bit slow. So I knew I didn’t have to go crazy in the jump off to win. I just needed to go clear. And it happened!”
And by “it happened,” he means they were almost two seconds faster (40.66 seconds).
Plascencia now tops the World Cup standings for Mexico. But, he said, a bid at the Final in Paris this April isn’t the cards for the promising pair.
“He needs one more year of Grand Prix because the World Cup is serious. I think he wouldn’t be ready this year, but maybe in the future it will be a possibility,” he said.
Instead, the Mexican rider is focused on developing the horse for the Central American and Caribbean Games next year in the hopes of building to the Olympics.
“I would like to go to the [2018] Central American Games, [2019] Pan American Games and then get him ready for the [2020] Olympics. But the Olympics are my main goal. I think it’s the most prestigious championship out there,” he said. “But do it with the process—Central, Pan Am, Olympics. Then maybe the World Equestrian Games.”
FEI show jumping continues tomorrow at the Triple Copa Scappino country club with the Audi-Sacppino Cup at 14:00 CT. Watch it on HorseNetwork.com/live!
