Shauna Cook (CAN) and Caya. Photo ©tbird/Quinn Saunders
Shauna Cook (CAN) had one hyphenated word to describe her win in the CSI3* Kubota Canada Winning Round 1.45m: “nail-biting.”
After her first round with Caya in the uniquely formatted class, Cook was unsure whether she’d even make the second round, for which only the top 10 combinations return. Ultimately, she’d just qualify as the tenth best score of the round.
Returning first for the second round on a clean slate, she and her mount positively nailed Anderson Lima’s (BRA) shortened track. But Cook then had to wait nine rounds to see whether the effort would be good enough to win.
It was.
Cook and her mother Sheilagh Kelly’s Caya topped the CSI3* Kubota Canada Winning Round 1.45m for the second week in a row, crossing the timers in an uncatchable 48.19 seconds. James Chawke (IRL) and Gamble, who qualified ninth, finished second (48.33 seconds), with Kyle King (USA) and Inferno BF third (49.88).
“I had that bit of an unlucky rail in the first round. The winning round worked in my favor this week, and we just snuck in, because she’s a quick horse,” Cook said. “It was a nail-biter. I wasn’t sure I was going to get in, and then I was like, ‘Well, I’ve got nothing to lose.’”
Not only did she have quickness on her side, but Cook also rode a most efficient track, where everything simply came up out of stride, leaving Cook feeling especially confident given her mare’s relative inexperience at the level. Caya jumped her first 1.50m track in Friday’s CSI3* Uryadi’s Village Cup 1.50m. Saturday, it was a celebratory scene at the back gate as Cook was joined by her trainer Gail Greenough, her longtime groom Candace McLaughlin and her daughter, Darby. Her parents were also in attendance.
“Today, she’s just in her zone,” she said.
Shauna Cook (CAN) and Caya stand for the winner’s presentation. Photo ©tbird/Quinn Saunders
$15,000 CSI3* Kubota Canada Winning Round 1.45m
Caya / Shauna Cook / CAN / Sheilagh Kelly / 4/0 48.19
Gamble / James Chawke / IRL / James Chawke / 4/0 48.33
Inferno BF / Kyle King / USA / Richard Kirby / 0/0 49.88
Casturano / Samantha Buirs-Darvill / CAN / Meredith Ellis / 0/0 50.58
Messi 10 / Uma O’Neill / NZL / Uma O’Neill / 0/0 50.75
Chafleur / Laura Jane Tidball / CAN / Katie Harris / 0/0 55.97
King-Boy / Rachel Fields / NZL / The Kehring Family / 0/4 51.1
Indigo van de Muggenhoek / Zume Gallaher / USA / Zume Gallaher / 2/4 55.65
Royal Dream-T / Mandy Porter / USA / Beth Bowlen / 0/4
Larima / Katie Kehring / USA / The Kehring Family / 0/8 53.43
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