Lillie Keenan and Highway win the Grand Prix in Wellington

It’s the second week of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington. The highlight was the CSI3* Grand Prix last night. Lillie Keenan wanted to use it to get to know her new horse Highway better. One of the things she learned was that she is in the fast lane with this 14-year-old son of Eldorado vd Zeshoek. Six pairs made it into the jump-off, three remained clear – including Keenan and Highway – but none came anywhere near her time of 36.676 seconds. This meant they were almost three seconds faster than the competition.

Lillie Keenan about Highway

The fact that it worked out so well at the first attempt is thanks to Highway’s previous rider and trainer, Willem Greve, says Keenan: “I can’t imitate the relationship between him and Willem. But he trained the horse so wonderfully! Tonight I wanted to get to know him and build our own partnership.”

The prerequisites are right. Willem Greve has always said that this horse is something special – not because he won the Rolex Grand Prix of ‘s-Hertogenbosch with him, among other things, but because Highway is such an incredible fighter. He may not have the ultimate talent, but he wants to. Always. That is also what she has always liked about him, says Keenan.

“I have always admired his wildness. He’s very different to my other horses. I believe he will make me a better rider. When I was offered the chance to take him on, I didn’t have to think.”

And now he is with her and they have their first victory in the bag. And it probably won’t be their last.

The other places

The other two clear rounds came from the Spaniard Juan Manuel Gallego on Chufly and McKayla Langmeier, who had already done well last weekend. This time she rode Riesling van de Gaathoeve. Gallego was slightly faster than the US rider with a time of 39.587 seconds and took second place.

The three other pairs in the jump-off were the Colombians Roberto Teran Tafur on DSP Callas and Simon Arango with Kadar HBC. They finished fourth and fifth with four penalty points each, while Tender Guy Z and Charlie Jayne (USA) were sixth with two faults in the jump-off.

Only one pair from Germany was represented: Junior Tony Stormans on his U18 European Championship horse Donjon d’Asschaut. They came out of the first round with two knockdowns, a time penalty and another Grand Prix experience.

You can find all the results from Wellington here.