Thermal, CA – February 16, 2025 – The first to go was the best to go in Sunday, February 16’s $32,000 Platinum Performance CSI3* 1.45m Classic. Great Britian’s Sameh El Dahan and WKD Aimez Moi led the class from beginning to end to take home victory in the final CSI3* competition of Desert Circuit 6 at the Desert International Horse Park.
As the clear pathfinder, El Dahan was ultimately joined in the jump-off by four additional riders who navigated the Colm Quinn-designed course without fault. Then, over the short course, El Dahan again showed the rest of the field how it was done.
As the first pair to return to the Grass Field, El Dahan and his longtime partner WKD Aimez Moi stopped the clock in a winning 36.65 seconds. Second place went to the USA’s Paris Sellon who rode The Duchess to a time of 38.27 seconds. Norway’s Ingrid Gjelsten finished in third with a time of 42.51 seconds aboard HH Zorro Z.
“It was maybe even better for me to go first because then you try everything, and then we ended up on top today!” said El Dahan. “We’re a very old partnership. We know each other so well, so it was easy for me to just ride my round. She felt amazing.”
El Dahan continued, “We were only five in the jump-off, so it wasn’t like a busy jump-off, but still you have plenty of very fast riders behind you. So, my plan was to go as fast as I can. By nature, she is so fast across the ground and over the jumps, so that’s also a plus for me. I think that’s why she was almost two seconds faster than anyone else. It’s good to have a fast horse underneath you!”
It is also beneficial to know a horse as well as El Dahan knows WKD Aimez Moi.
“We bred her, so obviously I know her for a lifetime,” said El Dahan of the 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare. “I started riding her, sharing the ride with Joanne Sloan-Allen who is the owner of the mare and produced her through the grades. She’s always been a fantastic horse. She’s always been very consistent and very brave. She tries everything for us. She’s won so many good things for us…I couldn’t ask for a better partnership.”
The mare has been in the ribbons of every grand prix that she has jumped at the Desert International Horse Park this season – which is just one of the reasons why El Dahan is enjoying his inaugural circuit at the Thermal, CA venue.
“We did the Major League CSI5* in December, and we decided to stay,” concluded El Dahan. “The people are very welcoming. The organizers of the show – everybody actually – have been so supportive and so helpful for us. These things matter a lot to me as a rider. You feel appreciated. You feel that people want you here. So that was what made our decision to stay, plus the amazing facility…All these things added up, so we thought, ‘You know what? We’ll just do the winter circuit here.’ Plus, the weather. You can’t ask for better weather!”
View full results of the $32,000 Platinum Performance CSI3* 1.45m Classic, here.
