The first thing Molly Ashe Cawley did after she won the $204,000 CSI4*-W Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ New York was hug her son, Connor.
“He’s my good luck charm,” she said.
Ashe Cawley is a two-time veteran of the World Cup Jumping Final, but her dramatic victory in New York marked the biggest win of her career since stepping back from top level sport to raise a family. She and Louisburg Farm’s D’Arnita narrowly edged Margie Goldstein-Engle to claim the American Gold Cup title. The duo crossed the timers in 36.76 seconds to best Engle (36.85 seconds) by just nine-hundredths of a second. Mattias Tromp and Quinta (37.95 seconds) were third, giving the Americans a sweep of the podium.
“We’ve been bringing along [D’Arnita] since she was seven, and this was her biggest outing so far to date,” Ashe Cawley said. “She answered all the questions, rose to the occasion, and gave her all. It means a lot to win a class of this magnitude again. It’s been a long gap period, I’d say.”
Alan Wade, fresh off designing the show jumping tracks at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon, masterfully set a course that saw seven combinations advance to the jump-off from a starting field of 38. After rain plagued the venue earlier in the week, there was some cut in the ground, and Royce slipped on his hind end when spinning back on a turn back to the jump-off’s third fence, costing them some time. Ashe Cawley attributed her win to the time she made up on that turn, along with her mare’s superior display of will.
“It’s by far her biggest win so far. I hope there are many more to come, and I think there are plenty more to come,” she said. “She’s just a super, super horse. Every time she wins, it means a lot to us. She’s a fighter and class act, and I’m super excited to have her.”
USA on a Roll
Americans occupied eight of the top 10 placings in New York, including the first six positions, building off a year that saw the United States’ Beezie Madden triumph at the 2018 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Paris and the American team of Laura Kraut, Devin Ryan, Adrienne Sternlicht and McLain Ward bring home gold at the recently concluded FEI World Equestrian Games™ on home turf.
Ashe Cawley’s win catapulted her straight to the top of the east coast sub league standings of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ North American League, as she received 20 points for her victory. Conor Swail, who finished as the runner-up in Vancouver, sits in joint second with Engle with 17 points.
The North American League went on a brief hiatus during the WEG but now returns in full force. Competition continues on the east coast with a brand new stop in Columbus, OH on October 7th.
