March 9, 2018 
“I didn’t think Kristen was actually beatable, to be honest.”
That was 2017 World Cup Champion McLain Ward (USA) right after he beat Kristen Vanderveen (USA) by more than a second and a half in the $35,000 Bainbridge 1.45m Classic at the 2018 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, FL.
(Do you wonder sometimes if Ward says humble sounding things, but in his mind is like, ‘Obviously, I won’? SAME.)
The CSI5* victory marks Ward’s second in as many days. He previously won Thursday’s $132,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge CSI5* with Hija van Strokapelleken.
Some 54 riders contested the Alan Wade-designed speed course on Friday. Thirteenth to go in the order, Vanderveen (USA) and Bull Run’s Faustino de Tili set the time to beat at 56.19 seconds only to have Ward and Bellefleur demolish it 20 rounds later with a scorching time of 54.80 seconds.
“She has a much bigger stride on that horse than I have on mine,” said Ward.
“My mare is very fast though, and with today’s course, the numbers allowed her to keep going where a lot of the horses had to slow down. I was able to catch the second to last fence very well to do the leave out, which I normally probably wouldn’t do with her. I got such a nice jump that I thought I was okay to do it, and she made a great effort.”
Pffft. Overachiever.
The nine-year-old Zangersheide is quickly becoming an old hat at leading the victory gallop. The obscenely stylish grey mare, co-owned by Ward’s three-year-old daughter, Lilly, and long-time supporter, Susan Heller, dominated Week 5 of WEF with victories in the $35,000 Bainbridge 1.45m Classic CSI5* and the $70,000 Hollow Creek Farm 1.50m Classic CSI5*.
“She’s been great down here,” understated Ward.
He’s now aiming his super-mare at the $132,000 Hollow Creek Farm 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic Final CSI 4* during WEF 11.
“She’s a blood mare, so we don’t work her too hard because we want to watch that she doesn’t get sort of ‘race horse fit,’ so to speak. She keeps herself fit anyway. Owen Rogers who actually takes care of her does a lot of the flatwork with her. He does a beautiful job. We try to keep it really low-stress because the horse is super competitive and super ready,” said Ward.
“I’d say my ideal plan for her is coming to fruition. I think she’s stepping up beautifully.”
And then some.
Ireland’s Daniel Coyle and Tienne were the only other combination to complete the speed course in under 60 seconds. They took third with a time of 58.30 seconds.
