The 49th HAMPTON CLASSIC GRAND PRIX

By Linda Lee–

Tables sold for $30,000 for front row, all-week spots. Land Rover and Ferrari parked their showiest models in plane sight. There are booths devoted to every kind of equestrian apparel, saddle, bridle, horse blanket, salves, more bits and bobs than anyone could imagine. And, of course, luxury goods that are not needed by horses: perfumes, scarves, boots, and so on.

Food, of course, because the days do stretch on. And many things to drink. Especially chilled champagne.

Sunday is the last of eight exhausting days of competitions.

The 10:30 event is the $75,000 two-star Grand Prix. Our Joey Wölffer is riding in it, which may come as a surprise to those who think of her in terms only of her philanthropy and her wines. But she spends the winter season in Wellington and competes seriously at the two-star level. She began riding, she says, when her parents bought a hundred acre potato farm that came with a barn, a donkey and a pony. You can see the joy on her face as she takes a fence.

Joey Wölffer (Four Oaks Creative)

There is serious competition in the $30,000 Grand Prix, mostly coming in the final eight riders. The final rider, Molly Ashe Cawley, won the four-star American Gold Cup in 2018. She is the presumed favorite, riding Berdien, her winning horse.

There is Ilan Bluman, riding for Colombia. He was born in Colombia, as was his cousin, Daniel Bluman. Daniel Bluman won the Hampton Classic last year, and was on the Israeli Olympic team this year. Their horses are stabled in Salem, NY. and Wellington, FL. Ilan Bluman, age 37, has won a three-star competition, and taken third place twice in two-star Grand Prix competitions.

One of our favorite riders is Sydney Shulman-Desiderio, especially when she rides Villamoura, a mare who jumps with her tongue hanging out.

Sydney Shulman-Desiderio winning on August 30 on Villamoura (Photo Kind Media)

She won the August 30 Grand Prix. This time she is riding twice. Once on Villamoura, and a second time on her teammate’s formidable Ladriano Z, the horse Daniel Bluman rode last year to win the Hampton Grand Prix.

So, Molly Ashe Cawley, Sydney Shulman-Desiderio? There is also Philip McGuane, riding for Ireland, jumping third to last. It will be exciting, as always at this level.

$425,000 Longines Hampton Classic Grand Prix

McLain Ward has won both qualifiers, and so he looks in good shape to come out on top. He will ride Contagious, the horse he has been victorious on all week. And he is a crowd favorite. There is no reason to think that he will not dominate on Sunday.

McLain Ward, winning the $30,000 Grand Prix on August 31 (Photo Kind Media)

There is always a but in Grand Prix jumping at the five-star level. There are two athletes involved, not just the rider but the horse. Daniel Bluman has been giving Ladriano Z, now 17 years old, a rest this week. He rode Ladriano Z in Paris. He rode Ladriano Z last year when he won the Hampton Grand Prix. He calls the horse “magnificent” and “smart.” And he is now riding Ladriano Z in the Grand Prix.

So that is a threat to McLain Ward.

Daniel Bluman on Ladriano Z, preparing for the Paris Olympics

Another threat comes from Kristen Vanderveen. She’s the one who rides with her long, blond ponytail hanging down her back. That upsets some people who consider it — uh — showy, or unkempt, or not following the rules that female riders stick their hair in a bun like ballet dancers. Vanderveen says that wearing her hair that way made her helmet uncomfortable, so, this is the way she rides. She also rides like the devil. A little out of control.

Kristen Vanderveen

She reminds me a bit of Karl Cook when he won the Classic a few years ago. Riding all out. For the Grand Prix she will not be riding the gray she rode to victory on Thursday, Bull Run’s Hesed, when she took the $32,000 Two-Phase. This time she will ride a bay, Bull Run’s Jireh. Formidable. She jumps third to last, and expect her to be fierce.

There are more riders to consider. Jordan Coyle, from Ireland, has the Longines ranking of 58, which is very high, compared to most riding in this event. Mark Bluman, also riding, is ranked 102. Daniel Bluman is 24. McLain Ward’s Longines’ ranking is 12. Georgina Bloomberg is competing for the Grand Prix, and riding seventh to last. Her Longines ranking is 539. Many female equestrians have lower rankings because of time off for their families.

And, of course, any jumping competition is an open question depending on small things, a missed step, a brief distraction, a gust of wind.

Jordan Coyle is jumping next to last, so considered a strong competitor.

Some other formidable competitors: Rene Dittmer from Germany. Cathleen Tyree from Los Angeles. They rode in qualifying rounds and have been slotted into the last five spots.

Another rider should be mentioned. He was born in Chicago but rides for Egypt. Nayel Nassar will be on a black KWPN mare named Ivory TCS. His Longines ranking is an impressive 25, just below Daniel Bluman.

Nassar, 33, is somewhat unknown in the US, having competed primarily abroad. His wife might be better known: Jenn Gates Nassar, the daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates. Nayel and Jenn met when both were studying at Stanford. She is now pregnant with their second child and is an MDMPH, that is a medical doctor and a masters of public health. Since they live in New York, she will no doubt be in attendance. Since Nayel Nassar represented Egypt at the Olympics, hello, that’s why you saw Bill Gates at the Olympics in Paris.

And so that is the 49th Hampton Classic Grand Prix.

Can you imagine the hoopla attending next year’s event?