The largest payout to date of the 2019 Great Lakes Equestrian Festival, presented by CaptiveOne Advisors, LLC, took place Sunday at Flintfields Horse Park, with Willie Tynan (IRL) and Fancy Girl capturing the lead spot in the victory gallop in the $71,200 North Face Farm Grand Prix CSI2*, the first FEI-rated grand prix of the series.
Willie Tynan and Fancy Girl. Photo: Andrew Ryback Photography
Presenting athletes with a track fit for a CSI2* grand prix, expert course designer Guilherme Jorge (BRA) challenged the 27 starters with a fair but technical pattern, with only five partnerships successfully finishing fault-free. Returning for the second round of riding, the jump-off field was comprised of Michael Morrissey (USA) on Sam 1091, Hardin Towell (USA) aboard Tupac Van De Vrombautshoeve Z, Tynan with Fancy Girl, Lauren Tisbo (USA) riding Casco 11 and Andrew Welles (USA) on Serpico, each with one final opportunity to ride for the prize.
Up against an all-American field, Tynan was the third to take to the ring in the jump-off and navigated Fancy Girl to a quick and clear effort in 38.930 seconds, bettering the time of 39.290 seconds set forth by the early clear front-runners Morrissey and Sam 1091, owned by QBS Equestrian, LLC.
Tynan knew it was going to take a good plan to come out on top. “With the guys that were in front of me and Lauren [Tisbo] after me, they are always quick and they have some quick horses, especially Hardin [Towell]. He had me for time — he took the risk as he was before me. My plan was to get eight strides done down the first line then tight back to the third oxer as quickly as I could. I added one stride as I was a little bit extra careful to the double because she is so big, and then seven strides to the next vertical. I wanted to do eight strides home but just couldn’t come up off the corner, so I ended up doing nine. It was enough today, but another day it might not have been.”
The final two challengers, Tisbo and Welles, each attempted to usurp the Irishman from the top of the standings aboard their respective mounts, but neither were successful, solidifying Tynan and Fancy Girl as the $71,200 North Face Farm Grand Prix CSI2* victors. Morrissey and Sam 1091 finished the class in second place, and Tisbo and Tequestrian Farms LLC’s Casco 11 nabbed third place as the final double-clear pair in 39.520 seconds.
“Fancy Girl is a 9-year-old who belongs to a really good owner of mine, Michelle Guardino-Dettelbach,” Tynan shared. “We bought her as a 5-year-old so we have had her all of her career basically. She has been second in maybe six grand prix, so it is nice that she finally got a win. I’m happy with her.”