Thermal, Calif. – For the second year in a row, the USA’s McLain Ward and First Lady are leading the way at Desert Holiday 1. On Thursday, December 4, 2025, the pair kicked off the week’s featured CSI5* competition the same way they did in 2024: by winning what is now the $182,000 Visit Greater Palm Springs CSI5* Qualifier.
The class marked the start of two weeks of Major League Show Jumping action at Desert International Horse Park, and with big prize money on the line now through December 14, many of the world’s top-ranked riders have made the trip to Thermal, Calif.
A field of 38 of those riders took on Thursday’s qualifying track, designed by Alan Wade, and nine of them ultimately advanced to the jump-off.
As the fourth pair to return for the short course, Ward and First Lady, owned by Robin Cleary Parsky, set the clear time to beat at 36.01 seconds. While Keri Potter and the notoriously quick Kalimera van de Nethe Z went on to have the best time in 34.89 seconds, a rail down relegated them to fourth place. Sliding into second place with a time of 36.95 seconds was the 12th-ranked rider in the world, Nina Mallevaey of France aboard Dynastie de Beaufour, owned by The Rein Family LLC. With a time of 41.59 seconds, third place went to Ireland’s Conor Swail and Clonterm Obolensky, owned by Ollie Clancy.
“I was lucky to get to watch a few,” said Ward, who is currently ranked 11th in the world. “[First Lady]’s quick, not quite as fast as Keri [Potter]’s mare, but it played out in our favor today. First Lady was out for a little while this summer with an injury, but she has come back really strong and been phenomenally consistent. She won the qualifier at [the Washington International Horse Show]. The biggest shows, those are the competitions that we’ve been aiming for, and she’s just delivering week after week.”
The Desert Holiday series at DIHP made Ward’s list of biggest shows to aim for with the 12-year-old Oldenburg mare for several reasons, including both the prize money and the opportunity to help his MLSJ team, the DIHP Roadrunners, earn valuable team points on their home turf.
“It’s obviously a great class, a great competition because it’s great prize money here,” said Ward. “We are all very thrilled to be out here competing on the West Coast. It’s been phenomenal efforts by all of the organizers of these tournaments. This is a great tour, and you see the level of competition and riders showing that appreciation.”
With one win already under his belt, Ward will now turn his attention to Friday night’s $200,000 Major League Show Jumping Cabana Coast CSI5* Team Competition and Saturday evening’s $750,000 CSI5* Coachella Cup Grand Prix, sponsored by Morrow-Meadows Corporation.
“We want to keep moving up [the MLSJ team rankings],” said Ward of his hopes for the DIHP Roadrunners, who currently sit in fourth in the standings. “We had a team dinner last night and had a bit of motivation from our leaders, so we’re always fighting. We have brilliant riders on our team, but the tradeoff is, in the summer months or in the early part of the season, a lot of those riders are committed to championships and other events so maybe we’re a little light on the front end; we always finish strong!”
For full results from the $182,000 Visit Greater Palm Springs CSI5* Qualifier, click here, and to learn more about Major League Showjumping, visit www.majorleagueshowjumping.com.
Competition at Desert Holiday 1 continues through Sunday, December 7. For a complete schedule, visit DesertHorsePark.com.