MILL CREEK, North Caroline, Oct. 28, 2022–Julio Mendoza Loor and Jewel’s Goldstrike won the Tryon World Cup Grand Prix Friday in the first step in a campaign to earn a start at the Final of the championship in Omaha.
Julio, who rides for Ecuador but is based in Columbus, North Carolina, scored 71.478% for the victory on the 11-year-old KWPN gelding. This was the third Big Tour competition for the partnership. The duo performed at two CDIs at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida last winter, including winning both the Grand Prix and the Freestyle in a CDI3*.
Over the summer, Julio and Jewel’s Goldstrike dropped back to Small Tour to compete for Ecuador at the Bolivarian Games in Bogotá to sweep the Prix St. Georges to lead his team to gold as well as winning the Intermediate 1 and Intermediate Freestyle.
Alice Tarjan of Oldwick, New Jersey and the American-bred Serenade MF were runner-up on 70.761%. Alice and the nine-year-old Hanoverian mare were on the American Nations Cup team in Rotterdam in June and were reserve for the U.S. world championship team.
Results:
World Cup Grand Prix
| Judges: | Jane Weatherwax | William Warren | Elke Ebert | Carlos Lopes | Maarten Van der Heijden | ||||||||
| Place | Score | Nation | Athlete | Horse | E | H | C | M | B | ||||
| 1. | 71.478 | ECU | Julio Cesar Mendoza Loor | Jewel’s Goldstrike | 70.000 | 70.870 | 71.848 | 72.500 | 72.174 | ||||
| 2. | 70.761 | USA | Alice Tarjan | Serenade MF | 71.630 | 71.848 | 70.652 | 69.022 | 70.652 | ||||
| 3. | 67.717 | USA | Michael Bragdell | Qredit Hilltop | 68.913 | 67.500 | 68.152 | 68.587 | 65.435 | ||||
| 4. | 64.500 | USA | Bridget Hay | Faolan | 63.804 | 65.978 | 65.109 | 64.348 | 63.261 |
