LAOIS man James Chawke hadn’t won a four-star class before last weekend, but an incredible few days at the BC Open at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, Canada, saw him win two in the space of 48 hours – and on different horses.
Chawke’s first four-star success came in the $31,000 1.45m ranking class on Thursday. When he and One Edition entered the ring, as last to go of the 43 starters, Egypt’s Nayel Nassar held the lead with Ivory TCS - this pair having won the CSI5* Winning Round 1.50m competition in the Thunderbird Arena less than a week before. Chawke and Vanessa Mannix’s nine-year-old mare One Edition flew round the course, set by fellow Irishman Colm Quinn, without fault to stop the clock in 60.80 seconds. This secured Chawke’s maiden win and was also a first ranking success for the Otangelo mare. Chawke also finished fourth in the class with Nacara van Berkenbroeck Z.
“In my first round (on Nacara van Berkenbroeck Z), I added in three places that I didn’t want to,” Chawke explained afterwards. “Two of the rollbacks and one of the lines. I figured if I could do the correct steps on (One Edition), that would save me.”
Chawke’s second four-star victory came on Saturday, when the Abbeyleix man steered the Alison Locke-owned Nacara van Berkenbroeck Z to win the CSI4* 1.45m jump-off competition.
From the start list of 33, there were 14 clear first rounds over Colm Quinn’s track. Chawke was first to go in the jump-off and set a quick time of 36.61 seconds. This proved to be the fastest and secured the top spot, with Skylar Wireman (USA) finishing second with Coolio 23 (38.4), followed by Kaitlin Campbell (USA) and Connecticut in third (39.07).
“It’s great [to have a week like this],” said Chawke, who works alongside Conor Swail (IRL) and with Vanessa Mannix’s (CAN) operation, producing young and up-and-coming horses. “My horses have been super and really consistent. That’s what’s most important.”
Chawke’s jump-off round got faster as he went, pulling ahead through the last three jumps. Nacara, an 11-year-old gelding, has a remarkable record, despite only being lightly campaigned at international level. The bay has won three out of four FEI starts at 1.45m and five of his nine FEI starts with Chawke in the saddle.
“He’s really fast, and he’s very careful,” Chawke said. “He’d never jumped 1.40m until January of this year, and since then, he’s been really good and really consistent.”
Chawke has ridden Nacara, a son of Nonstop, for two years, having acquired the ride through his wife Jacqueline, who is a close friend of Locke’s. The gelding is now going to have a well-deserved rest before his next international start at Thunderbird later in the summer.
“He actually has a really long break [next],” Chawke said. “I’d say he’ll maybe do one small national show before he comes back here in August.”
Down’s Conor Swail on Vital Chance de la Roque also made it into the jump-off and actually had the quickest jump-off round of 36.37, but one jumping error meant they had to settle for seventh place.
Grand Prix
Meanwhile, Irish Sport Horse, Rincoola Milsean proved it wasn’t just Irish riders who were on form at Langley, when he won the $120,000 four-star Odlum Grand Prix with American rider Charlotte Jacobs in the saddle.
The 11-year-old gelding Rincoola Milsean, who is known as ‘Roy’, was bred by the late Harold McGahern out of Cruising (ISH) mare Rincoola Abu (ISH) in 2013, with Aldatus Z the sire and is a proven performer at four- and five-star level.
Their jump-off time of 36.21 seconds, against competitors including Conor Swail on Count Me In (who finished fifth as fastest of the four-faulters, after having a pole down) secured the top prize of over $50,000 for connections. Rain may have made it difficult, but it was nothing Rincoola Milsean wouldn’t have seen during his early years in Co Longford.
Jacobs and Rincoola Milsean (ISH) had claimed a runner-up finish in Friday’s $62,500 CSI4* 1.50m qualifier at Thunderbird Show Park. The pair were only a fraction of a second behind Canadian winner William Martin with Je Happy Lina, with Swail finishing sixth with Vital Chance de la Roque, followed by Chawke on One Edition in ninth.
Placings
Thursday saw Ireland’s James Brennan take seventh place in the CSI4* 1.40m Welcome class on board Reemah O.L.
Sunday saw another win for Chawke, when he rode Liaraldra into first place in the $10,000 1.40m Winning Round class, jumping double clear in a jump-off time of 26.95 seconds.