She just missed it by a hair. They said on the live stream that the top ten from the 1.50 class on Friday would get in, and she ended up 12th in that class.
Tonight’s class is listed as starting at 8:15. In his interview with the excellent Nancy Jaffer, the current head of the showgrounds promised that “production values have been raised for maximum drama, with 40 lasers around the ring…”
Dude. Trust me. There is enough drama in collecting superbly athletic horses together in a tropical paradise to jump 1.60 with a water jump under the lights without a bunch of circus effects. Not everything has to be a TV show. I hope the stables and warm-up area are well-shielded from the Drama.
It is possible that I am cranky because King Edward will be in the ring well past my (and his) bedtime. I will go have some prunes now.
I would really like for this class to start at say, 5. This is going to be way past my bedtime!
I think they make the start time a little later for this class to make sure everybody shows in the same lighting conditions so it’s more fair.
If you were on the West Coast, it would be starting around 5:00. Lol.
Right there with you I was like 815? How’s a girl supposed to stay awake that late?
Do you know why some of the riders have the Rolex crown next to them? Are they sponsored riders? Just curious!
Course map! It’s a long one, extra double thrown in. The 8-9-10-11 line looks like it could be interesting.
I was thinking those riders may have won a Rolex GP before.
ETA: Scratch that. McLain has won this class (and other Rolex GPs) twice and he doesn’t have a crown.
Just found this cool Equiratings guide too: https://digital.equiratings.com/view/64858650/
Greya is the predicted winner, which I would absolutely love!
Maybe they are the winners of a Rolex Grand Prix in the 2024 series. There are 5 riders with crowns, and tonight will be the 6th and final competition of the Rolex series.
I wonder if the ingate near the last jump might turn out to be a little bit of a factor at the end of a long first course.
Sponsored riders
I wondered about that as well.
Aren’t 12b and c the type of combination that Harry Charles was upset about when he wrote his opinion about vertical two stride to oxer, after his fall, or will 12a mitigate the issue?
Wow. Lots to chew on in there!
Maybe Guilherme (the course designer) wasn’t on Facebook that week.
There is also a lot of really interesting information in this graphic that was posted on Facebook about the FEI classes at WEF this winter.
It’ll be interesting to see if it causes problems. The one he crashed/complained about was successfully ridden by many others.
I wish Lillie Keenan would have qualified. Happy that Mimi did though. She’s very impressive.
Yes, good for her. I remember when she looked like a tiny little peanut, even on a small or medium pony. It’s crazy the way time just keeps on flying by!