The Tryon Spring II competition concluded on Sunday, May 13, at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) and saw a win for David Blake of Wellington, FL, aboard Pine Hollow Farm’s DY Zento in the $25,000 McCurry-Deck Chevrolet Buick GMC Grand Prix. Second place was captured by Juan Ortiz of Loxahatchee, FL, piloting Nenuphar’Jac, owned by Stransky’s Mission Farms Inc., stopping jump-off timers in 46.684 seconds. Third place was awarded to Brittni Raflowitz of Palm City, FL, and ESI Show Jumpers Inc.’s Hilton Van de Breepoel, after completing their fast track round in 44.863 seconds.
David Blake and DY Zento. Photo by Sportfot
Five of the original 24 entries moved forward to contest the short course, and Blake and his mount raced around the evening’s course designed by Manuel Esparza (MEX) to complete the jump-off in 40.018 seconds. After scoring a top ten finish in the Tryon Spring I $70,000 Tryon Resort Grand Prix CSI 2*, Blake and the Dutch Warmblood gelding returned to Tryon Stadium to clinch the blue.
“Last week was his first week under the lights and I was delighted with him,” commented Blake. “He was a top horse in the class and was double clear. I went as quick as I could to get him some experience against the clock, and my aim was to come back tonight just to firm everything up. Tonight, once again, he proved how good of a horse he is, clear and very solid. He’s really only been against the clock a couple of times and Juan’s horse is quite experienced, so I was surprised that we were quicker, but the horse is getting faster and more experienced every week.”
David Blake, Juan Ortiz, and Brittni Raflowitz in their presentation ceremony with Paul and Pamela Deck, Owners of McCurry-Deck Chevrolet Buick GMC, alongside Sharon Decker, COO of Tryon Resort. Photo by Sportfot
Blake plans to take the coming months to gain miles on the mount, taking a few weeks off before beginning their summer show schedule. “He’s going to get a couple of weeks off now with a few other upcoming shows,” he explained, “and then come back to this ring to do some of the bigger shows toward the end of the summer to step it up a bit. Hopefully big things to come.”
The Tryon Spring Series will continue with four more weeks of top hunter, jumper, and equitation competition, concluding on Sunday, June 10, before the start of the 2018 Tryon Summer Series on Thursday, June 14, through Sunday, July 22.