Lexington, KY – May 19, 2024 – Cathleen Driscoll claimed her second grand prix victory in a row on Sunday afternoon to close out the Kentucky Spring Classic. After earning the win in Saturday night’s $125,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix CSI3* with Arome, she returned to top the $35,000 Bluegrass Grand Prix aboard Casalletto. The day’s highlight event was presented by Sterling Equestrian and Forest Hill. Driscoll and Casalletto led the way with a brilliant double clear. Pathfinders Lorcan Gallagher and Hunters Conlypso II took home the second-place prize, while Quentin Judge and HH Griffin Van De Heffinck placed third.
Driscoll was happy to be closing out the show with two big wins saying, “These two weeks have been great! We have a great group of horses – they’re all on form and they all had good results. It’s always a big confidence booster and good for morale in the barn when we can have weeks like this – all the horses show off and get impressive results. We’re super happy to be finishing like this, going into our little break before the next shows.”
Cathleen Driscoll and Casalletto
The Guilherme Jorge-designed track featured a liverpool oxer in the middle of the course before a rollback to a vertical-oxer-vertical triple combination. Riders finished with an oxer-vertical double combination to a delicate skinny vertical before bending to the final oxer towards the gate. Three combinations advanced to the jump-off, where they had to begin with a tight rollback before continuing to the skinny vertical and jumping the second half of the triple combination. Riders then finished by galloping to the final oxer at the far end of the ring.
Gallagher was the first to return with Hunters Conlypso II and wore a target on his back after breaking the beam in 40.751 seconds with all the rails intact. Driscoll was next with Castalletto and was focused on continuing her winning streak. Making a tight turn in the first rollback and using her mount’s stride to leave out to last fence proved to be the key as they tripped the timers in 39.746 to claim the victory.
Lorcan Gallagher and Hunters Conlypso II
“Casalletto is a super jumper,” explained Driscoll after her win. “He has all the scope, but I’ve been working on the rideability. I tweaked a couple things earlier this week, and now he’s really starting to be more with me, especially through the turns. He had a super turn from one to two, but his best quality in a jump-off is his stride. He has a huge stride, so I was able to do less than Lorcan to the skinny, as well down to the last fence. I was able to get a good run and leave one out there.”
A 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Plain Bay Farm, Casalletto is sensitive, which is a quality Driscoll appreciates. “It takes a little bit to figure them out, but once you win them over they really fight for you,” she noted. “He has a ton of scope, and he’s very careful, so we’ve just been working on getting our partnership together and getting him to trust me. This past week he won all three of his classes, so we’re really starting to get there and I’m looking forward to moving him up this summer into some of the FEI divisions.”
“I love Kentucky – I think it’s fabulous horse country,” concluded Driscoll. “The showgrounds are great and the rings are beautiful. It’s a nice, convenient location for us to get to, and the horses jump very well in this ring and on this footing. They come out confident and ready to step up into the summer shows.”
The Kentucky Spring Series has officially come to a close, but plans are already underway for the 2024 Kentucky Summer Series. Presented by Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital and scheduled for July 24 – 28 and July 30 – August 4, 2024, each week will feature world-class hunter/jumper competition at the prestigious Kentucky Horse Park. Online entries will open on May 24 at Show Management Systems. To learn more or view the prize list visit www.KentuckyHorseShows.com.