Tag Archives: Nicky Galligan

Competitions, Show Jumping, Tryon

Eugenio Garza Perez and Caracas Rock the $36,000 Horseware Ireland Welcome Stake CSI 2*

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Eugenio Garza Perez and Caracas ©Sportfot.

Mill Spring, NC – October 24, 2019 – Eugenio Garza Perez (MEX) and Nerijus Sipaila’s Caracas sped to a win in the $36,000 Horseware Ireland Welcome Stake CSI 2* at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) at Tryon Resort, stopping the jump-off timers at 39.81 seconds. In second, Johan Kachelhoffer (RSA) and his own Carlos 691, a 2009 Oldenburg gelding (Catoki x Carry Gold), cleared the short course in a time of 40.305 seconds, while Tracy Fenney (USA) and Igor van de Heibos, the MTM Farm-owned 2008 Belgian Warmblood stallion (Lord Z x Lys de Darmen), put in a clear jump-off round in 41.555 seconds to take home third.

Anthony D’Ambrosio (USA) saw 63 entries test his course in the first round, with 21 qualifying for the jump-off. Garza Perez reflected that the course had allowed him to play to Caracas’ strengths: “The course was really fun to ride for me and I just wanted to try to go as fast as I could. He’s just a fast horse and we used it to our strengths and it paid off.”

Garza Perez continued to explain that this class was the 2009 Holsteiner gelding’s (Cachas x Unknown) “first big class” he had competed in since this spring. “He was fabulous. We weren’t trying to do anything crazy, because he’s just coming back, and we don’t want to mess up anything that we’ve done.”

This is Garza Perez’s third consecutive week competing at TIEC and although he and Caracas will not return to the Tryon Stadium again this week, he does plan to compete his other mount, Contago, in Saturday’s $72,000 Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix CSI 2*. “I love Tryon. I don’t have a complaint about it. It’s a fantastic facility for both horses and riders. It’s fun to be here especially when the weather is like this! It’s been a good three weeks in Tryon!”

Nicky Galligan and Javas Miss Jordan Dominate in $5,000 Power & Speed Stake CSI 2*

Nicky Galligan (IRL) and Javas Miss Jordan raced to win the $5,000 Power and Speed CSI 2* at Tryon Resort Wednesday, with a double-clear effort and a speed phase time of 33.38 seconds. Dorothy Douglas (USA) and MTM Cornada B, the Davenport Farms-owned 2009 Westphalian mare (Cornado NRW x Larson), earned a close second with a double clear and a speed phase time of 33.85 seconds, while Harold Chopping (CAN) piloted Diane Halpin’s Geronimo SCF, a 2011 Dutch Warmblood gelding (Veron x Silvio I), to third with another double clear and a speed phase time of 35.44 seconds.

“She’s my princess; I’ve had her since she was four years old,” Galligan admitted of his own 2009 Irish Sport Horse mare (Luidam x Obos Quality 004). Today is my first FEI win, and her first FEI win as well. We’re doing it as a team! It feels a little bit surreal and we’ve come a long way. I work for an amazing lady in Virginia who really has made all of this possible and has given me a platform to compete with some really nice horses. I’m incredibly thankful!

“The course was lovely,” Galligan shared of the course set by Anthony D’Ambrosio (USA), who tested 39 horse-and-rider pairs in the Power phase and 16 pairs in the Speed phase. Although Galligan won the class, he revealed that winning was not his true motivation going in: “I was just testing out a new bit and wanted to see how she responded to it. It wasn’t really the plan to go fast, but she’s typically quite quick over the ground.”

Galligan plans to return with Javas Miss Jordan to the Tryon Stadium this Saturday under the lights for the $72,000 Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix CSI 2*. “This is our last show of the year, so hopefully we will finish with a bang,” Galligan concluded.

To learn more, visit www.Tryon.com.

Competitions, Show Jumping, Tryon

Nicky Galligan and Javas Miss Jordan Win $15,000 1.35m-1.40m Jumper Stake

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Nicky Galligan and Javas Miss Jordan.  ©Bailey Beck.

Mill Spring, NC – April 2, 2019 – Nicky Galligan (Keswick, VA) and Javas Miss Jordan galloped to victory in Sunday’s $15,000 1.35m-1.40m Jumper Stake with a time of 32.362 seconds. David O’Brien (Lexington, KY) and Dayla 6 owned by Cleveland Equestrian claimed second place with a time of 32.759 seconds. Doug Payne (Aiken, SC) and Quintessence owned by Jane Dudinsky claimed the yellow rosette for third after stopping the jump-off timers in 33.21 seconds.

Among 17 entries in the course set by J. P. Godard (Aiken, SC), Galligan remained ahead of the competition after first setting sight on the venue last week during Tryon Welcome 1. “This is my first time here. I’m really, really impressed,” he remarked.

“Normally, I’d be in Florida for the winter, and this year we did a little restructuring and didn’t go. So last week was actually my first show, too.” Galligan relayed that his favorite aspect of grounds is “fantastic facilities – the footing is top-class. “[It’s] really, really impressive – for me to jump the horses two weeks, three days each week and no worries about feet is incredible. I’m very happy to be here.”

On the course, Galligan commented, “It felt really nice. We were here last week, too, and today felt like a little step up [in difficulty] from last week. It was a little more technical in the lines, playing with the adjustability of the horse, shortening and then lengthening over the oxers, and a really nice day. It was a really nice job with the courses both weeks – I brought some young horses, as well, and they got fantastic experience.

“This is a very special horse to me and my family, actually,” Galligan revealed. “She’s part of the reason why we’re in the States. I’ve had her since she was four years old, and I was the first person to sit on her back. I bought her directly from the breeder and have been nurturing her quite slowly. She actually hasn’t been at a show since last August until last week, so this was just some shows to get her a little fit and jumping some rounds again. She will go home now for a couple weeks in the paddock, do a couple more shows and we will aim to come back here for the 3* show in May.”

Though the mare’s schedule has been slow so far, there was nothing slow about the jump-off round the pair produced to take the win. His strategy was “no pressure,” Galligan elaborated. “It was more about giving the horse experience in the jump-off, because she hasn’t jumped a lot of Grand Prixs, and had to warm up a second time and go back into the ring. So really, I was just thinking about giving her that experience of taking a breather, chilling out, warming up again and coming back in.”

Galligan continued, “After jumping our classes last week and this week I thought we could have a little bit of fun today. She’s a naturally fast horse, so we had a little bit of fun. No pressure on her, just let her do her job, and she came up good. It was a lot of fun.”

Though impressed with TIEC’s rings, Galligan attributed the mare’s strong build to the fact that he prefers to get the horses out of the ring as much as possible: “I guess we pay a lot of attention to detail in our strength and conditioning, and the soundness of our horses, and try to keep them happy,” he said. “We’re lucky to live in Virginia with a lot of natural hills, so I don’t spend a lot of time in the ring – I spend a lot of time in nature keeping them fit and strong. She just loves her job, too. She’s a very simple horse and loves to show.”

Click here to view full results from the $15,000 1.35m-1.40m Jumper Stake.

For more information, please visit www.Tryon.com.