Lexington, KY – May 14, 2026 – An international field of athletes gathered at the Rolex Stadium on Thursday afternoon to compete in the $62,500 Spring Classic CSI3*, sponsored by Kentucky Performance Products, during the Kentucky Spring Classic at the Kentucky Horse Park. Sixty combinations were narrowed down to 10 for a test of speed and accuracy during the technical jump-off. Erynn Ballard (CAN) laid it all on the line with Genius De Rance, speeding through the turns and galloping home for the day’s victory. Less than a second behind them was Celso Ariani (BRA) and Jip Van T&L Z for second place, while Alexandra Worthington (USA) and De L’Oiseliere rounded out the top three.
“I think that Genius could be one of the greatest horses in the world without a doubt,” smiled Ballard after her win. “He is still quite new to us, but he won the 1.45m last week and we did him in the National Grand Prix, which was my biggest class to date on him. We chose him to jump the three-star this week because we brought a young group of horses that are moving up. This is an opportunity that we don’t get very often, to do some of the newer horses and to be able to have the national week last week and then move up into the FEI. It’s like a really great progression!”
Erynn Ballard & Genius De Rance
Course designers Anderson Lima and Jason Shelley asked questions throughout the 13-obstacle track in the Rolex Stadium, which included a triple bar, an oxer-vertical double combination at the far end of the ring, and a vertical-vertical-oxer triple combination going towards home as the 11th question before the final line, which finished with a wide oxer near the gate. Ten combinations had all the answers in the first round and advanced to the tiebreaker. The jump-off began with a triple bar bending to a liverpool vertical, followed by a rollback to a bending line before making another sharp turn and galloping across the ring to the first part of the triple combination and galloping home over the final oxer.
Alexandra Worthington & De L’Oiseliere
Five of the jump-off qualifiers were able to produce a second clear round, but Ballard was the first to finish in under 50 seconds. She made tight turns and used her horse’s quick pace to race through the timers in a blistering 44.82 seconds with all the rails intact, leaving the remaining horses chasing her. One round later, Worthington and De L’Oiseliere tackled the track, but their efforts to leave all the fences up came at a slower pace of 48.98 seconds, which would hold up for third. Ariani was in the ring next with Jip Van T&L Z and they would produce the last double clear of the day. They were hot on Ballard’s heels, stopping the clock at 45.17 seconds to take home the second place prize, while Ballard led the lap of honor.
Celso Ariani & Jip Van T&L Z
“Ilan (Ferder)’s theory is that you can never win unless you try,” explained Ballard of her strategy with the 10-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Ferder. “He would rather you have the fastest time with one down, because we’re trying to teach him how to win, hopefully, a five-star one day. However, I know from even winning the class last week, he’s so light, he’s so handy, he’s so brave. He really believes in me and I really believe in him, so we took a shot and it paid off!”
The next event for Ballard will be Saturday night’s $125,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix CSI3*, presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. Riders will also have the opportunity to showcase their mounts during Sunday’s $35,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix, presented by Sterling Equestrian/Forest Hill and Saturday’s $15,000 U25 Grand Prix.
For more information on the Kentucky Spring Series, please visit www.kentuckyhorseshows.com.