Thermal, Calif. – Desert Spring Fling 1 came to a great conclusion for James Chawke and his student, Britt Scheifele, on Sunday, March 22, at Desert International Horse Park. The two earned a one-two finish in the $10,000 1.40m Open Speed Stake, with Chawke clinching the win aboard Rananka-A and Scheifele finishing in second place aboard Phaedra Dor.
Course designer Chris Jones set the morning’s speed track in the Grand Prix Stadium, where Scheifele soon laid down what would become Chawke’s time to beat. After already winning earlier in the week, Scheifele and her own Phaedra Dor, crossed the finish line in 74.122 seconds.
A few trips later, however, Chawke made short work of Scheifele’s time, blazing through the timers in 70.075 seconds for the win. While Chawke’s time relegated Scheifele to second place, Chawke’s win was also a win for Scheifele, as she purchased his winning mount, Rananka-A, at the end of 2025.
“This is a new one that we just bought for Britt,” said Chawke of the 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare. “She’s really nice. I’ve jumped her a few weeks, and then Britt jumped her a week. Just to give her a bit more experience and a bit more mileage, I jumped her again this week. She’s a simple and really sweet horse.”
Chawke continued, “There were a lot of mistakes [from others] today…The shadows obviously play a big part [in early morning classes]. Even for [Rananka-A], she’s not used to all the shadows. Definitely you could tell the difference jumping into the sun versus the other way, so I think that’s why you saw a few.”
Finishing in third place behind Chawke and Scheifele was Cassie Frost who piloted Blueprint NBS, owned by Summit Farm, to a time of 74.795 seconds. Fourth place with a time of 75.938 seconds went to Justin Prather and Mulan BF, owned by Bradon Equestrian LTD. For all results from the $10,000 1.40m Open Speed Stake, click here.
The all-new Desert Spring Fling horse shows offer two back-to-back weeks of National Hunter and Level 5 Jumper competition, continuing through March 29. To learn more and to view a complete schedule of class offerings, click here.