Katie Dinan piloted Dougie Douglas. ph: Al Cook/www.alcookphoto.com.
On Thursday, October 19, 2017, USA’s Katie Dinan piloted Dougie Douglas to an Open Jumper victory at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Besting a field of 38 entries, Dinan won the $40,000 Pennsylvania National “Big Jump”, sponsored by Wilmington Trust, a division of M & T Bank.
“It’s great to have a win here,” said Dinan. “This is my 15th Harrisburg in a row and it’s my first time winning an open jumper class here. I was 2nd in the grand prix one year, but it’s nice to win a class. It’s nice for Dougie because I think he deserves a result like this. He’s a super horse and he has such a big heart. It’s a real thrill to ride him.”
Eleven combinations proceeded to the jump-off set by Portugal’s Bernardo Cabral. Five clear rounds were produced, with mere fractions of a second separating the top three.
Nicole Walker (CAN) had the first clear in 35.76s on Falco van Spieveld. Paulo Santana (ESA) and Taloubet took over the lead with a speedy 33.60s, which looked unbeatable, though they would finish in an eventual 2nd place behind Dinan. Second to last in the order, Olympian Ben Maher (GBR), rode Tic Tac to a final time of 33.84, finishing the day in 3rd place. Last in the order, Dinan blazed around the course in 33.28s, dethroning Santana to win the class.
“I turned so fast into the last fence that I did eight strides instead of seven, which was more than my perfect plan. But, his turning was so good and he was so on it that it ended up being faster than if I had stuck to the plan,” said Dinan. “Dougie was amazing. He gave me everything. He helped me out a little bit in the first round and in the jump-off he was really on it.”
For Santana, there was no hard feelings towards his 2nd place finish. “I don’t mind at all losing to Katie. She is such a sweetheart. I love her so much.”
The “Big Jump” was the first of three FEI events contested at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. FEI Open Jumping action continues on Friday evening with the $35,000 Keystone Class, and culminates with the marquee event, the $100,000 Grand Prix de Penn National, on Saturday.
The full results can be viewed here.