Photo © ESI Photography
For Immediate Release:
THERMAL, Calif. – February 22, 2020 – Jeff Campf (USA) and Tender Star were unbeatable in the $10,000 Ruby Tour Classic CSI3*, sponsored by ALU Jumps, halting the jump-off timers at 35.77 seconds. Kaitlin Campbell (USA) aboard Colada (Calido I x Zappelin), owned by Sweet Oak Farm, set a jump-off time of 36.29 seconds to land them in second place, while Zazou Hoffman (USA) and Bloom du Plessis (Orient Express x Rosire) finished in third with a time of 36.72 seconds.
“I have to say these courses [today] have been some of my favorites,” Campf commented after his second FEI win of the day. “The course was pretty straightforward and with careful horses, when I can get a gallop in these jump-offs that Alan [Wade] has been building, I just trust they’re not going to hit anything. It gives me a tremendous amount of confidence.”
Photo © ESI Photography
Campf credits the win to the 2010 Swedish Warmblood gelding (Nintender x Rastell), owned by OZ Investments and Mark & Ellen Brown. “In the very beginning I left out a stride from jump one to two and again, my horse is careful and he was fabulous for me there,” Campf explained how he got an early lead. He expressed that although he went wide to the third jump but was able to make-up for it again later in the course, “Over the last three jumps, I caught the forward stride and he [Tender Star] was just absolutely tuned in and that put me back ahead.”
Tender Star was also the winning horse in the $2,500 Ruby Tour Welcome on Thursday of Week V of Desert Circuit and came in second in the $5,000 Ruby Tour Speed on Friday. “He’s always been a really careful horse and now that his fitness is coming around, jumping three days in a row here was something I had to think about doing,” Campf explained. “But he’s been fresh [after having a few months off] and he’s just really blossoming, he feels fantastic.”
About Desert International Horse Park
With nearly 1.3 million square feet of competition and riding space, the Desert International Horse Park is one of the largest equestrian facilities in North America. Offering multiple weeks of world-class equestrian competition from October through March, the facility is a destination location for thousands of equestrians, their horses, family and friends for several months annually. Competitors from all over the world travel to Thermal, CA to not only compete but to enjoy everything the desert has to offer.