JJ Torano Sweeps the $30k Cleghorn Gun Club Tryon Spring Grand Prix
JJ Torano and I Am Inge ©Sarah Sturgis for Natalie Suto Photography
Mill Spring, N.C. — May 9, 2026 — An electric evening of show jumping unfolded under the lights at Tryon International during Saturday Night Lights, sponsored by Cleghorn Gun Club. The featured Grand Prix competition, part of the Saturday Night Lights Series sponsored by Skyla Credit Union and the Tryon Spring Series sponsored by Fabbri, brought riders and spectators together in Tryon Stadium for another exciting night of international sport, where speed, precision, and consistency ultimately determined the leaderboard.
JJ Torano rose to the top aboard I Am Inge (Uriko x Tina XII), producing a smooth double-clear effort and blazing jump-off time of 37.284 seconds to secure the victory. The pair showcased efficiency and confidence throughout the course, topping a competitive jump-off field under the lights.
Campbell Brown and Booster 13 (Barcley x Online IX) continued their strong spring campaign at Tryon International with a second-place finish after stopping the clock in 38.064 seconds. Torano returned to the podium aboard Dora Du Valon, claiming third place with another fault-free jump-off effort in 39.038 seconds, while Eva Fisherman and Kerenia (Zavall VDL x Ferenia) rounded out the top four in 39.307 seconds.
With all four top finishers producing clean rounds over the first-round track, the class ultimately came down to fractions of a second in the jump-off, where riders balanced speed with careful execution as the atmosphere in Tryon Stadium intensified throughout the night.
Torano’s victory marked an especially impressive evening for the rider, who placed two horses in the top three and demonstrated remarkable consistency across multiple rides in one of the season’s most competitive Saturday Night Lights classes to date.
“I Am Inge is a horse of Alain Ferder’s, and he gave me the opportunity to ride her at the beginning of the winter season in Wellington,” Torano shared. “Which is an incredible opportunity. She’s the kind of horse that can jump anything I ask of her, and it’s an amazing feeling to have a horse like that in the barn.”
Torano admitted the first round didn’t feel perfect but trusted the partnership heading into the jump-off.
“I wouldn’t say my first round was my best round,” he laughed. “But heading into the jump-off, I knew if I smoothed everything out and stayed on my plan, we could be really fast. I felt like I executed the jump-off exactly how I wanted to.”
The win also continued a successful annual stop at Tryon International for both Torano and his team.
“This is always a stop on our summer tour,” Torano said. “We always look forward to coming here. We can’t say enough good things about the show, and to finish the week with a Grand Prix win definitely makes it even better.”
For full results and upcoming competition schedules, visit www.tryon.com.
