Thermal, Calif. – Martien van der Hoeven and Chance Encounter put the pedal to the metal to win the $25,000 Marshall+Sterling 1.40m Open Classic held on Friday, December 12, at Desert International Horse Park.
Van der Hoeven and the 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding have been partnered for roughly two years, and in that time, they have jumped up to the CSI5* level together. This week at Desert Holiday 2, van der Hoeven hoped to utilize Friday’s 1.40m class as a training opportunity – while ideally picking up a top result along the way.
Martien van der Hoeven and Chance Encounter. Photo by High Desert Sport Photo
“I’m pretty lucky; he’s jumped already a lot of big classes,” said van der Hoeven of the horse owned by Marlac Ventures I. “I really wanted to do this class because I wanted to get him forward. He was a little backed off, so it was a bit of a training idea. I wanted to go, try to be competitive.”
Van der Hoeven and Chance Encounter had the advantage of being the 44th of 45 entries to take on the one-round speed track set by Olaf Petersen Jr., so there was no question of what they needed to do to get the win.
“My thought was, with the extra mileage that he has, I could really be a little bit pushy on the way to the triple,” explained van der Hoeven. “I did one less – I did eight going into the triple. I think a lot of people did nine. I feel like, if anything, that’s just where I could call on his experience of jumping maybe some bigger jumps without him making a mistake.”
Martien van der Hoeven and Chance Encounter. Photo by High Desert Sport Photo
Chance Encounter’s experience did pay off, and the duo crossed the finish in a winning 60.640 seconds. Second place with a time of 60.800 seconds went to Gavin Harley and Holidays de Riverland, owned by Marigold Sporthorses LLC, and Simon Schroeder and Avery Winston’s Desir du Chanu finished in third on 61.303 seconds.
For van der Hoeven, every win with Chance Encounter is a team celebration.
“He’s owned by a group of clients in the barn,” said van der Hoeven, who operates Marlac Farm out of Texas. “It’s just been fun. They get to watch him. They cheer for him. They like to be a part of him and his journey and getting to see moments like this.”
Making the trip to Thermal, Calif., throughout the winter is also a highly anticipated team effort.
“I would have to say that this is probably one of the best venues that there is in the country hands down as far as management, how they take care of everything and look at a lot of details,” concluded van der Hoeven. “You feel like every ‘i’ is dotted and ‘t’s are crossed…It’s just a really enjoyable place to come horse show, and I think it’s good for horses and good for the clients.”
To view full results of the $25,000 Marshall+Sterling 1.40m Open Classic, click here.
Competition at Desert Holiday 2 continues through Sunday, December 14, with remaining highlights including Saturday night’s $340,000 Go Rentals CSI5* Grand Prix beginning at 6 p.m. For a full schedule of events, click here.