March 8, 2025, Myakka City, Florida. Daytime competition at TerraNova Equestrian Center offered elite show jumping action to spectators on Saturday, March 8, 2025. The fourth week of the venue’s five-week series culminated with the Akerman LLP $65,000 1.45m FEI CSI2* Grand Prix in the Lakeside Arena, where 37 top pairings vied for the prize to the delight of the large crowd.
The class was the penultimate grand prix event in the series, ahead of the highly-anticipated Dutta Corporation $100,000 1.45m FEI CSI2* Grand Prix, part of the Split Rock Jumping Tour, which takes place on the fifth and final week. Held in the picturesque background of Myakka City, Florida, the TerraNova Winter Series has seen spectacular international show jumping as well as nationally-rated hunter, jumper, and equitation competition. Delivering on a performance worthy of her podium placing, today’s victory went to Niamh Mcevoy (IRL) and BP Swifty at the afternoon’s completion.
Representatives from nine different nations took to the field in the day’s premiere event, and the athletes proved to be at the top of their game as 11 duos dominated the first course for a spot in the jump off, designed by Portugal’s Bernardo Costa Cabral. As the first to fly fault-free in round one, Mcevoy set the stage for a steep competition as she punched her ticket to the jump off with Matthew Calderwood and GBBS International Ltd’s 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare (Amaretto Darco). Ten more entries, including top competitors Laura Kraut (USA), Jad Dana (LBN), and yesterday’s winner in The Estates at TerraNova $32,000 1.45m FEI Welcome, Paul O’Shea (IRL), followed suit and navigated a clear path, but Mcevoy embodied the ‘go first, get first’ mindset as she led off the short course with a blazing fast, uncatchable time of 35.400 seconds.
“The jump off was a really nice course today,” she explained. “The ground was brilliant and there were 11 clear, which is a good amount for a competitive jump off. I was first to go today but this horse is really careful and fast, so I just wanted to go as quickly as possible and she was really good. I was delighted with her.”
“She is quite a new horse to me,” she continued. “Greg Broderick bought her just before we came here. She was amazing in Ireland and has won loads of grand prixs, so I’m really excited about her. This is definitely our biggest win together so far, but she feels in great form and ready to move up.”
Not only was this the first time Mcevoy has been to the venue, but it is also her first season competing in the United States.
“This is our first season coming to America with horses,” Mcevoy expressed. “It’s been great so far and has been really educational for both me and the horses. This is such an amazing facility, I was really impressed. The ground was great, the courses were lovely, and the horses really enjoyed it, so we’re delighted to support it.”
In an attempt to replicate her win during the second week of the series, young rider Mia Bagnato (USA) found a fast path across the ground to race into second place with the Elan Farm’s nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Cordiamo (Cornet du Lys x Conthargos), as the pair stopped the clock in 35.560 seconds.
With North Star’s 10-year-old KWPN gelding, Korbach van de Renger (Colestus x Concorde), Charlotte Jacobs (USA) ticked just over the 36-second mark to finish in a time of 36.260 seconds for third.
National-level competition will resume on Sunday, March 9, 2025, featuring both a national-level grand prix as well as a slew of junior-amateur classics to cap off a full week before the series’ final event.