Leslie Burr-Howard (Newtown, CT) guided Donna Speciale to a win in Saturday’s $75,000 Grand Prix at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) at Tryon Resort, stopping the jump-off timers at 33.71 seconds. Alex Granato (Wellington, FL) and Page Tredennick’s Carlchen W, a 2008 Mecklenburger gelding (Chacco Blue x Celline-W), claimed second on a time of 34.6 seconds, while Daniel Bedoya (Magnolia, TX) rounded out the top three aboard Abracadabra WKT, a 2008 Holsteiner mare (Casaii x Famousgirl II) owned by Monica Hanks, after their 35.013 second jump-off round.
Leslie Burr-Howard on Donna Speciale. Photo by TIEC.
The highlight Jumper class of the Tryon Spring 6/92nd Tryon Riding & Hunt Club Charity Horse Show welcomed 45 entries to test the Michel Vaillancourt (Aiken, SC) course design, with ten horse-and-rider pairs qualifying for the jump-off. Burr-Howard and the 2008 Dutch Warmblood mare (Cavalier x Paris) noted that the course design was “quite clever” in the questions it asked of competitors:
“I thought it was a super course. Where he [Vaillancourt] put that last in-and-out was quite clever,” she explained. “You had rails falling all over [the course], but nobody got hurt. It was a great course! It’s always a pleasure to come here.”
Alex Granato on Carlchen W. Photo by TIEC.
Burr-Howard and “Donna” have had Grand Prix wins at TIEC before, and she noted that the mare “seems to love this venue. She actually won a Grand Prix here in Tryon about two years ago. We know each other extremely well, and she’s always been a very good mare for me. She’s very fast, careful, and competitive.”
Daniel Bedoya on Abracadabra WKT. Photo by TIEC.
Though taking a pause in competition for a few weeks, Burr-Howard plans to return to TIEC for the Summer Series and potentially for the fall season. “From here I’m going home to Wellington, FL, for two weeks, then coming back here for two weeks,” she concluded. “Then, I’m going back to our base in Connecticut, and hopefully, by then shows will be starting back up there. We’ll probably head back to Tryon in the fall, then back down to Florida.”
For full class results, click here. The Tryon Summer Series kicks off June 10 and features six weeks of AA Hunter and Level 6 Jumper competition, with four weeks of CSI 2* and 3* competition. To learn more about the 2020 competition calendar, click here.