Thermal, CA – March 15, 2025 – Amanda Gomez and Charly-Ann topped both classes that they contested on the Desert International Horse Park’s Grass Field during Desert Circuit 5, so on Friday, March 14, the winning duo returned to do it again. This time, they rode away with an impressive victory in the $24,999 Marshall + Sterling Insurance 1.40m Open, held as part of Desert Circuit 10.
“I know that she’s super competitive, and she’s been jumping really good on the grass,” said Gomez of Charly-Ann. “I was just hoping that she still loved the grass as much as she did Week 5. I brought her out [to the field] earlier, just before the countdown clock started, and she was a bit spooky. Typically with her, if she’s a bit looky, it’s almost better. She jumps a bit more careful. So, I knew cantering to jump one, ‘I have a good horse right now, so I got to give it a run.’”
As the final rider to jump the Peter Grant-designed course, Gomez had the advantage of having already ridden two horses in the class and of watching the rest of the field. Up until just prior to Gomez, no one had broken under the 66-second mark. Then, Kaitlin Campbell and Palina de L’escaut took to the field and blazed through the finish in 62.471 seconds. While Gomez did not get to watch Campbell’s round, when she heard that she had taken the lead by nearly a four-second margin, she knew it was game on.
“I knew I was going to have to give it a good go if I wanted to win,” said Gomez. “With me, and especially with that mare, we always want to win when we walk in the ring, every class with her. I always have a shot if I ride well. It was just a good day with everything lining up the way that it did, having the two horses jump before her, it all just ended up being perfect. Of course, every day you get to go last in a speed class is a good day!”
With Gomez taking the win, Campbell and Palina de L’escaut, owned by SWS Training & Sales, finished in second, and Kyle King and Sig Chiari took home third place with a time of 66.146 seconds.
Gomez has been partnered with her winning mount for roughly a year and a half, and in the time since then, Gomez and the 14-year-old Holsteiner mare, owned by Rising Star Equestrian, have become quite a force to be reckoned with, particularly in speed classes.
“She is very consistent,” concluded Gomez. “I think it took me almost a full year to figure out what routine really works for her. She is such a spunky, energetic mare, and she really loves her job, which is great, but almost sometimes it’s a bit too much, right? She gets to be a little bit keen in the ring every once in a while if I don’t prep her enough. So typically for her, I stick her on the lunge line. I can hack her, but hacking her almost makes her build a little bit more. So, she likes to go out on the lunge line in the morning and trot and canter around, and she gives a couple bucks and squeals out on the lunge line. She comes back to the barn even happier and ready to do her job.”
