Katy, TX – March 28, 2025 – The conclusion to Thursday’s $25,000 Wentz Family Foundation Grand Prix bore a striking resemblance to the day prior, as it was again Maddee Morley and Champions Legue who rode away with the win at the 79th annual Pin Oak Charity Horse Show. Also claiming back-to-back victories was Alexandra Pielet who rode Hyperbolics to the win in the $10,000 U25 Grand Prix held concurrently.
“This feeling never gets old,” said Morley, 27, of her second consecutive win at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, TX. “I’m so happy with how my horse jumped, and I’m just on cloud nine.”
Morley and her 12-year-old Westphalian gelding were one of seven entries to jump clear over the Oscar Soberon-designed track, and when they returned to the Main Indoor Ring, Alwaleed Alrashid and W Senna had just set the clear time to beat at 36.461 seconds.
Morley, who trains with October Hill Farm, has been working on feeling confident in leaving out strides down the lines, so that is exactly what she did on Thursday. With a strong gallop down to the final Pin Oak oxer, Morley and Champions Legue flew through the timers in 34.660 seconds to take over the top of the leaderboard, and ultimately, to bring home the win.
Alrashid and W Senna, owned by WA Farm LLC, held on to second place, and Pielet and Hyperbolics finished in third with a time of 37.337 seconds – which would also secure them the win in the $10,000 U25 Grand Prix.
“[The jump-off course] was a really good test of rideability and just being able to gallop through the really bending lines,” said Morley. “I just wanted to go in and lay down a nice clean, double clear, especially just knowing Saturday [and the $30,000 WA Farm Grand Prix] is coming up. I’ve been working on trusting my horse a lot more and trusting the one less in some of the lines, and that’s what I tried to accomplish today.”
Morley continued, “I don’t do a ton of jumping at home. I maybe do one course in between shows. We do a lot of cavalletti work, a lot of pole work. That’s more for my benefit, but it is also for Champ’s benefit – just to keep him really straight and in the middle of a lot of jumps because that’s where we struggle a bit. We have a big field…and we do a lot of gallop sets down there to keep him fit. We just do a lot of trying to get him out of the ring as much as possible when we’re at home, while still keeping him fit and just making sure that he’s still enjoying his job.”
In addition to pointing Champions Legue at Saturday, March 29’s $30,000 WA Farm Grand Prix, Morley is aiming for the culminating event of the three-week Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, the $100,000 Hildebrand Family Grand Prix on Saturday, April 12. To view a full schedule of all upcoming events at the 2025 Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, click here. To learn more, visit www.PinOak.org. To view full results of Thursday, March 27’s $25,000 Wentz Family Foundation Grand Prix, click here.
About the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show
Recognized as a US Equestrian Heritage Competition, the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show is one of the oldest and most prestigious horse shows in the United States. Today, the show features three weeks of top-caliber hunter/jumper events and one week of breed show competition at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, TX.
