Kristen Vanderveen and Bull Run’s Prince of Peace pulled off a win in the $35,000 1.45m Sunday Classic CSI 3* at Tryon International Equestrian Center to conclude Tryon Summer IV competition, stopping the short-track timers in 41.68 seconds.

Brian Moggre and MTM Vivre Le Reve, a 2009 Westphalian gelding owned by Major Wager LLC, cleared the jump-off course in 42.156 seconds to claim second place ahead of Brittni Raflowitz in third, guiding Garland Stables’ Dustin 254, a 2007 Westphalian gelding, to a 45.583 second clear jump-off round.

Vanderveen revealed that the win was only the 2009 Holsteiner gelding’s second competition on grass footing.

“The course was great today. This is a younger horse for me and it’s only his second time ever competing on grass — the first time being in the $5,000 1.40m Speed Stake CSI 3* [last week], so it was good,” Vanderveen said.

Vanderveen has been paired with “Prince” for a year and has been taking her time bringing him along.

“I think he has a lot of quality, so I want to make sure I don’t rush him. He’s just 9 years old this year, so last year I kind of took my time and did 1.40m classes and haven’t dabbled with too much FEI stuff, but now it feels like he’s ready to step up and be part of the team,” Vanderveen said. “He’s a bit of a character in the barn — he is like a puppy dog and wants all the attention.”

“I was a little bit torn just because I haven’t really done so much with him, but then I saw Brian go and he had such a slick, smooth jump-off. I was like, ‘There’s only one way for this horse to learn. Let’s give it a try!’ I figured I’d try and be as slick and smooth as I could and he’s naturally fast, so it was enough,” Vanderveen said, in regards to her jump-off plan.

Vanderveen, who is headed next to Michigan and then Chicago, said she would like to start trying some of the smaller CSI 2* Grand Prix classes with Prince moving forward, continuing his gradual education.

For a full list of results from the $35,000 1.45m Sunday Classic, people may visit  tryon.coth.com.

– Submitted by Tryon International Equestrian Center