Trelawny Trailblazers Heat Up in the Desert

Published

07 DEC 2024

Est. reading time

3 min

The Trelawny Trailblazers are gaining momentum in the Major League Show Jumping (MLSJ) team standings and setting the stage for a battle in next week’s season finale. Trailblazers Natalie Dean (USA), Lillie Keenan (USA) and Conor Swail (IRL) clinched a win on Friday evening in the penultimate $200,000 ClipMyHorse.TV 5* Team Competition at MLSJ La Quinta.

Capping a banner day at Desert International Horse Park (DIHP), Dean, 25, was the only Trailblazer to post a double-clear performance riding Oasis van de Bucxtale after also winning the 2* Hermès Grand Prix aboard Dotcom d’Authuit earlier in the afternoon.

“We thought all three horses were in great shape, but I had a little more confidence that, if I had a rail down, I could be quick,” said Dean after winning her gold medal jump-off against Vanessa Hood (USA) of Maccabi United. “We had a good strategy; I trust Oasis to go fast. I actually felt that I could have been quite a bit faster; I got stuck in a few of the turns, but she’s naturally a quick horse and I put enough pressure on Vanessa that it worked out!”

While Keenan riding Kick On and Swail aboard Casturano each posted a rail to their tally in the opening round, two fault-free trips in the second sent Dean to the gold medal jump-off.

“The first round didn’t go the way that we planned,” said Swail. “Lillie’s horse jumped great, but a bit unlucky. I made a mistake at the rollback, so it put us on the back foot. Thankfully, Natalie was super all night; she kept us in it during the first round.

“It was a very important night for us,” continued Swail. “There are at least four teams that are capable of winning next week, but we do have a very, very strong team.”

Dean bested Hood on a time of 43.76 seconds in the jump-off. Joining Hood in the silver medal position for Maccabi United was Thaisa Erwin (AUS) and Luis Larrrazabal (VEN).

Rounding out the podium, Sean Jobin (CAN), Jos Verlooy (BEL) and Abdulrahman Alrajhi (KSA) delivered the Northern Lights a bronze medal.

Jobin posted the fastest time over the second-round course for the Northern Lights in a blistering 43.28 seconds aboard Coquelicot Vh Heuvelland Z to earn them the fastest lap title for MLSJ La Quinta.

“The team is important for us,” concluded Keenan. “I stepped up my horse [Kick On] this year, and I had planned to save him for the Trailblazers these two weeks. He’s a super horse, and it’s a lot of fun to be able to gain experience at this level.”

The home team—the DIHP Roadrunners—slipped from the top of the leaderboard as Maccabi United now leads on 107 points. The Roadrunners are a single point back on 106, while the 2023 season champions—the Trailblazers—gained momentum from Friday’s win and sit third with 97 points. Friday evening’s podium finish has the Northern Lights in fourth on 94 points.

Action continues at MLSJ La Quinta on Saturday evening in the coveted $1M Coachella Cup. Tune in live on MLSJ TV.