Katy, TX – April 4, 2025 – The $25,000 Frio Vodka Grand Prix at Pin Oak Week 2 came down to a lightning-fast, 13-horse jump-off, and at the end of the day on Thursday, April 3, it was Avery Griffin who galloped away with the win aboard Oh My Star van Strytem, owned by PBC Equine Investments LLC.
“Star” was one of 27 horses that took on the Manuel Esparza-designed track at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center, and following the first round, speed quickly became the name of the game.
Early in the jump-off, the target time remained around the 37-second mark, with Morgan Parasher and Chess taking an early lead in 37.271 seconds. That time would hold up until the final stretch of the jump-off, as Allison Kroff and her aptly named T-Quick Hurricane turned in a time of 35.227 seconds.
With no one else coming within two seconds of Kroff until that point, it seemed a tall order for either of the final two entries to topple Kroff’s spot atop the leaderboard – but Griffin got it done. She and Star flew over the final vertical in 34.406 seconds to take home both the overall win and the win in the $10,000 U25 Grand Prix held concurrently.
“[Oh My Star van Strytem] really just changed my life, and I feel like I match so well with that horse,” said Griffin of the 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding that she has had for roughly a year and a half. “He shows me where he wants to be, and he’s just so fun to ride.”
Griffin continued, “I went early [in the jump-off] on my first mare, Bodega Semilly, but normally, she is a little bit slower than Star…She ended up having one down in the last line, but she had a pretty fast time. So, I knew I could follow the same plan on Star, just pick up a big canter. There was a little bit of a leave out from the second to the third jump, and once I did that, just stayed on the same canter, and it was amazing.”
Following a successful winter in Wellington, FL, Griffin is happy to return home to Texas – and to the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show.
“I love that it’s a charity event,” concluded Griffin, 18. “It really feels like no matter what you do in the week, it means more than you. That’s just such an incredible feeling, to know that your week is bigger than just your personal results.”
To learn more about the 79th annual Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, visit PinOak.org, and for full results of Thursday’s $25,000 Frio Vodka 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.
