Andrew Ramsay Wins $35,000 Don Little Memorial Welcome Stake at American Gold Cup CSI4*-W
Andrew Ramsay & Cocq A Doodle. ph: The Book LLC
On the second day of competition at the American Gold Cup in North Salem, NY, USA’s Andrew Ramsay and the ten-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare Cocq A Doodle (Tolan R x Niagara) won the $35,000 Don Little Memorial Welcome Stake on Thursday, September 14, 2017.
At the Old Salem Farm, the speed class tested top equestrian athletes over the 12-obstacle-course designed by Ireland’s Alan Wade’s. Of the 66 horse and rider combinations, Ramsay held the lead throughout the entirety of the class to win in 61.41s.
“We’ve had her [Cocq A Doodle] for just over a year and a half and she’s a fantastic mare and a blast to be on,” said Ramsay. “We competed for the first time at Old Salem Farm in the spring and she really made the field her own. We came in to the American Gold Cup this week knowing that she was in a good place and it’s a good field for her. She can gallop up and down on the grass, use her stride and go from a short turn to a full gallop in just one step. She’s very quick on the throttle.”
The ten-year-old old was the first of Ramsay’s three rides, but the young mare produced his only clear round for their first American Gold Cup performance.
“It was our plan coming in with her today to be very competitive. We wanted to set up the other two for tomorrow and Sunday,” said Ramsay. “She came out and did everything I hoped she would do. She really dug in there and was a blast to ride. Speed is her natural gear and it does work out on these big fields.”
Fresh off of Wednesday’s success in the $8,000 Douglas Elliman 1.40m Jumper CSI4*, USA’s Abigail McArdle rode the ten-year-old Hanoverian gelding Chuck Berry 8 (Chacco-Blue x Watzmann) to a 2nd place finish in a time of 62.63s.
USA’s Jack Hardin Towell, Jr rode the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding New York (Verdi x Watzmann) to a 3rd place finish in a time of 63.55s.
On Friday, Sept. 15, the $86,000 American Gold Cup Qualifier CSI4*-W, presented by Windsor Show Stables, will take place at 2 p.m. The top 40 athletes will move on to compete in the $216,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping New York CSI4*-W, on Sunday, Sept. 17.
The full results can be viewed here.