Ocala, FL – Spectators and exhibitors as soon as once more flocked to World Equestrian Heart – Ocala (WEC) for the spotlight occasion of Week VII of the 2025 Summer season Sequence: the $65,000 UF Well being Grand Prix CSI2*. Riders from 13 nations contested Saturday night time’s characteristic class, but it surely was Eire’s Paul O’Shea who saved the very best for final, piloting Crew Eye Sweet’s Hellcat (Cassander Van Het Bremhof x Conan) to victory and securing the lion’s share of the prize cash.
Olympian Lauren Hough (USA) was the primary to return, guiding her personal Clarisall Junior to an environment friendly 42.56 seconds to set the tempo. Peter Petschenig quickly shaved over a second off that point aboard the huge Wannabe CS (Warrant x Pythagoras), owned by Brooke Peterson. The Austrian rider and his 13-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding turned up the warmth, stopping the clock in 41.16 seconds.
Wilton Porter (USA) and Larderello got here shut with a time of 41.60 seconds, but it surely was New Zealand’s Georgia Bouzaid, who edged behind Petschenig on the leaderboard, using her personal 17-year-old gelding Copabella Voltage (Copabella Visage x Quidam de Revel), ending in 41.20 seconds.
Final to return, O’Shea had already navigated the course as soon as with Manglar Ls La Silla, leaping clear in 42.84 seconds. With Hellcat, nevertheless, he had a special plan.
“She has an enormous stride, however she’s truthfully higher when she doesn’t miss the strides, so she could be fast over the fences as nicely,” O’Shea defined.
After fence two, the course offered a query on the double mixture, the place some riders stayed large whereas others opted for a tighter flip. O’Shea determined to attempt one thing completely different.
“That’s a spot I wouldn’t usually have a quantity, however I’m making an attempt to study to do this now. So I’m strolling the turns, as a result of that’s the way in which the game has gone. You see riders like Conor Swail and Henrik von Eckermann counting as much as 13 strides on the rollbacks, so I’ve needed to adapt. It labored out, and I obtained the ten,” he stated. “Within the final line, Peter did 9, however I knew 10 can be sufficient as a result of I wished to ensure she didn’t get too fast. Fortunately, she’s so fast throughout the bottom and over the bounce, it was fast sufficient.”
And fast it was. The pair stopped the clock in a blazing 40.14 seconds, almost a full second sooner than Petschenig, to safe the win.
O’Shea praised the 14-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare: “I’ve been using her for 5 years. She’s owned by Eye Sweet Jumpers, and I’m very grateful to Erica Hatfield for her help. I’m very lucky to have a horse like Hellcat. She’s received lots, and he or she’s very, very quick. She’s so prepared and trustworthy. She simply likes to do her job.”
No stranger to WEC – Ocala, O’Shea additionally had excessive reward for the venue: “All the things is unimaginable; the area, the jumps, the course designers. Colm Quinn did an excellent job tonight. It’s so good having the indoor space to heat up in—what’s there to not like?”
$65,000 UF Well being Grand Prix CSI2* Outcomes
Discover the each day class schedule, orders of go, class counts, and remaining outcomes on HorseShowing.com. For real-time scoring, take a look at Ryegate.Stay.
Images courtesy of Andrew Ryback Images.Movies accessible at ClipMyHorse.TV
