Sydney Shulman and Villamoura Take a Tryon Detour to Win $25,000 Horseware Ireland Welcome Stake

Tracy Fenney and MTM Dolce Vita Fly to $25,000 Sunday Jumper Classic Win

Sharn Wordley and Gatsby Swing a $25,000 Jumper Classic Win

For Immediate Release

Sarah Madden for TIEC

Mill Spring, NC – May 8, 2021 – Kristen VanderVeen (Wellington, FL) and Bull Run’s Prince of Peace announced their arrival at the Tryon Spring Series with a win in the $75,000 Tryon Resort Grand Prix at Tryon International Equestrian Center and Resort (TIEC), stopping the jump-off timers in 39.172. Sharn Wordley (Citra, FL) and Gatsby, his own 2004 Irish Sport Horse stallion (Simba x Daisy Cruise), flew to reserve on a time of 39.556, while third place went to Sydney Shulman (Greenwich, CT) and Villamoura, the 2009 Selle Francais mare (Diamant de Semilly x Kasina) owned by Jill Shulman, after their 40.531-second performance in the jump-off.

Kristen VanderVeen and Bull Run’s Prince of Peace
©TIEC

VanderVeen and the Bull Run Jumpers Six LLC-owned 2009 Holsteiner gelding (Cardenio x P-Comtesse) were one of 10 pairs to qualify for the jump-off test after 19 entries toured the first-round track set by Peter Grant (CAN). Last to go, VanderVeen reported that she knew she had to run to the last fence after seeing Wordley’s performance. It was an all-out gallop to the last fence, shaving just four-tenths of a second off Wordley’s time to win.

Sharn Wordley and Gatsby
©TIEC

“It worked for us once, when we tried that, so I figured [I would] trust him and run as fast as I could to the last,” VanderVeen recapped. “I know his [Bull Run’s Prince of Peace] strength is in the long runs, and actually there were quite a few long runs here. I decided to not risk too much at the rollback turns, but really leave some strides out and push it to the last jump. I also left out a step into the combination because he’s very smart about that. I just tried to work to his strengths.”

Sydney Shulman and Villamoura
©TIEC

VanderVeen noted that the course design set by Grant was a great introductory Grand Prix track to kick off the six-week series, throughout which she plans to base at the venue she calls “home” after achieving milestone wins at the venue throughout her career.

Kristen VanderVeen and Bull Run’s Prince of Peace in her presentation ceremony alongside Edilberto Rodríguez Martinez, Luis Salazar, Molly Oakman, TIEC Director of Equestrian Operations, and Sharon Decker, Tryon Equestrian Partners President, Carolinas Operations.
©TIEC

“I thought the course was really fair today, and was a nice way to keep us in the swing of things and get us going here at Tryon – kind of a nice first week for us. We’re here for the next five weeks, back home,” she concluded. “It’s so nice, with the spring weather here. We couldn’t ask for anything better!”

Sydney Shulman and Villamoura Take a Tryon Detour to Win $25,000 Horseware Ireland Welcome Stake

May 6, 2021 – Sydney Shulman (Greenwich, CT) and Villamoura kicked off Tryon Spring 1 with a win in the $25,000 Horseware Ireland Welcome Stake, speeding through the jump-off timers in 35.405 seconds. Catherine Tyree (Chicago, IL) and Bokai, the Catherine Tyree LLC-owned 2006 Dutch Warmblood gelding (Up To Date x Lucky Girl), cleared the short course in a time of 36.682 to earn reserve, while Fernando Cardenas, Jr. (New Hill, NC) and his own Calvados, the 2010 Danish Warmblood gelding (Chellys Z x Serupgards Canasta), scored third on a time of 40.082.

Sydney Shulman and Villamoura
©TIEC

Shulman and the 2009 Selle Francais mare (Diamant de Semilly x Kasina) owned by Jill Shulman rerouted to TIEC just last week, at the urging of Cat Tyree, Shulman revealed. “Cat said, ‘I’m never telling you to come to a horse show when you’re not going!’ – I wasn’t planning to come here until about a week ago, but we decided to catch this show on our way back home.”

Catherine Tyree and Bokai
©TIEC

Besides being a convenient place to pause for two weeks on their way back north after a grueling winter circuit in Wellington at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), Shulman noted that she was looking for some confidence-boosting rides as well by competing at the national level.

“The jumps are super big at WEF and it’s so hard all the time, every weekend, so I kind of needed a little ego boost for my horses and myself,” Shulman admitted. “We wanted to take a deep breath at a new venue and jump some nice classes. I’m really happy that we came here!”

Fernando Cardenas Jr. and Calvados
©TIEC

“Mini” is a “smaller horse with a smaller stride,” Shulman explained, “so the course actually suited her. I was able to add in the first two lines before I started to open her up and it really worked out well for her. She hasn’t jumped since Week 11 of WEF. She felt super excited to do her job, and she loves Tryon.”

In the jump-off, Shulman recapped, she prioritized staying straight and tidy, and let Villamoura take care of everything else to cruise to a win. “She’s naturally electric-fast and careful, so I definitely have that advantage going into the jump-off. I just have to stay neat and tidy, and keep her straight. She’s super careful, so you just have to place her in the right spot and she takes care of the rest.”

Tracy Fenney and MTM Dolce Vita Fly to $25,000 Sunday Jumper Classic Win

Tracy Fenney and MTM Dolce Vita
©TIEC

May 9, 2021 – Tracy Fenney (Flower Mound, TX) and MTM Dolce Vita scored a win to conclude Tryon Spring 1 by clearing the short course in a time of 40.178 in Sunday’s $25,000 Jumper Classic with the 2012 Holsteiner mare (Diarado x Philadelphia) owned by MTM Farm. Darragh Kerins (Wellington, FL) piloted Delight M-G C De Leuze, a 2009 Belgian Warmblood mare (Armitage x Vox Dei M-G C De Leuze) owned by NRG Farm LLC, to reserve on a time of 41.721, while third went to Fernando Cardenas Jr. (New Hill, NC) and Quincy Car, the 2004 Oldenburg stallion (Galiani Car x Kiss By Star Car) owned by Fernando Cardenas, after their 45.424-second performance. Fenney topped a class of eighteen entries with four pairs challenging the jump-off track.

Sharn Wordley and Gatsby Swing a $25,000 Wednesday Jumper Classic Win

Sharn Wordley and Gatsby
©TIEC

May 5, 2021 – Sharn Wordley (Citra, FL) and Gatsby, his own 2004 Irish Sport Horse stallion (Simba x Daisy Cruise), collected a win in Wednesday’s introductory $25,000 Jumper Classic in Tryon Stadium, stopping the jump-off timers in 34.651 seconds. Kristen VanderVeen (Wellington, FL) and Bull Run’s Prince of Peace, the Bull Run Jumpers Six LLC-owned 2009 Holsteiner gelding (Cardenio x P-Comtesse), claimed reserve on a second-round time of 35.131, while Catherine Tyree (Chicago, IL) and Bec Lorenzo, the 2010 Irish Sport Horse gelding (Siec Livello x B) owned by Catherine Tyree LLC, earned third place on a time of 35.453 seconds around the short course.

Hunter Highlights:
Allison Coleman (Wellington, FL) and her own Radiance championed the Medium Pony Hunter Division, with reserve named to Finley Clement (Waxhaw, NC) aboard her own Small Business.

The Coca-Cola® Performance Hunter 3’6”/3’3” Division concluded with a championship ribbon for Pat Vogtle (Hillsborough, NC) and Carelyn Monroe’s Victor, with reserve going to Jimmy Torano (Wellington, FL) aboard Lochridge Prince for Andrea Holland.

Alicia Wilkinson (Waxhaw, NC) and Elm River owned by Ann Ritter were named champions of the USHJA Hunter 2’3” Division, while Catherine Tucker (Huntersville, NC) and Calentino claimed reserve for Lauren Copeland.

Jumper Highlights:
The 1.20 Open Jumper Division resulted in champion honors for John Brown (Mill Spring, NC) aboard Ballon Bleu for Ponce Tidwell, III, and Taylor Kain (Lexington, KY) combined with Mariah Fam LLC’s Hesenti for reserve.

Lisa Zimmer (West Palm Beach, FL) and her own Cereza du Rouvroir championed the Santa Cruz Animal Health 1.10m Adult-Amateur Jumper Division, while Charlotte Black (Charleston, SC) and her own Nebfriet EBZ claimed reserve on the week.

Alexander Alston (Gahanna, OH) and the Alston Alliance, LLC owned Don Corleone were champions in the 1.30m Medium Junior/Amateur Jumper Division, with Erin Haas (Ann Arbor, MI) scoring reserve with Hagelin for North Face Farm.

For full division results from Tryon Spring 1, click here.

For full results from the $75,000 Tryon Resort Grand Prix, click here.

For full results from the $25,000 Horseware Ireland Welcome Stake, click here.

For full results from the $25,000 Wednesday Jumper Classic, click here. 

For full results from the $25,000 Sunday Jumper Classic, click here.

The Tryon Spring Series continues through June 13 and features six weeks of national and international Hunter, Jumper, and Equitation competition. Competitions are open to the public at a limited capacity per the USEF COVID-19 Action Plan, and all Tryon Resort guests, competitors and staff must wear a mask at all times when not actively eating or drinking, or mounted on a horse. Competition information is available at www.Tryon.com/compete, with live streaming available for select classes at www.Tryon.com/streaming.

Photo credit ©TIEC. Competitors can review and purchase photos from Tryon Spring 1 and request photos for the entire Tryon Spring Series at www.Tryon.com/photos. These photos may only be used once in relation to this press release with proper credit. Contact media@tryon.com with questions.