Kristen Vanderveen (USA) and Bull Run’s Prince of Peace (Cardenio x Contender) pulled off a win in the $35,000 1.45m Sunday Classic CSI 3* at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) to conclude Tryon Summer IV competition, stopping the short-track timers in 41.68 seconds. Brian Moggre (USA) and MTM Vivre Le Reve, a 2009 Westphalian gelding (Ustinov x Chello II) owned by Major Wager LLC, cleared the jump-off course in 42.156 seconds to claim second place ahead of Brittni Raflowitz (USA) in third, guiding Garland Stables’ Dustin 254, a 2007 Westphalian gelding (Dollar Du Murier x Lancer III), to a 45.583 second clear jump-off round.
Kristen Vanderveen and Bull Run’s Prince of Peace. Photo by Sportfot
The field saw 26 first-round trips on the Alan Wade (IRL)-designed course with eight horse-and-rider pairs earning the opportunity to try the jump-off track. Vanderveen revealed that today’s win was only the 2009 Holsteiner gelding’s second competition on grass footing and said, “The course was great today. This is a younger horse for me and it’s only his second time ever competing on grass – the first time being this week in the $5,000 1.40m Speed Stake CSI 3* on Friday, so it was good.”
Vanderveen has been paired with “Prince” for a year and has been taking her time bringing him along. “I think he has a lot of quality, so I want to make sure I don’t rush him. He’s just nine years old this year, so last year I kind of took my time and did 1.40m classes and haven’t dabbled with too much FEI stuff, but now it feels like he’s ready to step up and be part of the team,” she explained. “He’s a bit of a character in the barn – he is like a puppy dog and wants all the attention.”
“I was a little bit torn,” Vanderveen admitted about her jump-off plan, “just because I haven’t really done so much with him, but then I saw Brian go and he had such a slick, smooth jump-off. I was like, ‘There’s only one way for this horse to learn. Let’s give it a try!’ I figured I’d try and be as slick and smooth as I could and he’s naturally fast, so it was enough.”
Kristen Vanderveen and Bull Run’s Prince of Peace in their
presentation ceremony. Photo by Sportfot
Vanderveen, who is headed next to Michigan and then Chicago said she would like to start trying some of the smaller CSI 2* Grand Prix classes with Prince moving forward, continuing his gradual education.