DEL MAR — Forty horse-and-rider combinations came to play on the grass field at the Del Mar Horse Park Aug. 8 in the $25,000 August Festival Grand Prix. Going 16th, Jaime Azcarraga of Mexico City on Selcius, was the first clean and the only double clear performance for the win.

The Scott Starnes-designed course had several twisty turns and combinations — a total of 16 efforts were included in a tight time allowed of 83 seconds.

“Having not seen a lot of the [Mexican] horses jump, my objective was to get most around but challenge them,” Starnes said. “There was a nice mixture between local and Mexican talent. Azcarraga is a master and he rode really well.”

Azcarraga said the course was more difficult than it looked.

“The turn to 4A-B caused a lot of problems.” he said. “All of the jumps fell down. It did ask a lot of questions.”

Azcarraga and Selcius were the first to negotiate the shortened track of eight fences and entered the ring with the win in mind.

“I tried to go as fast as I could to put the pressure on the rest of the riders,” said Azcarraga. “I was lucky.”

The pair zipped around in a time of 42.39, leaving all of the fences up — apparently not an easy act to follow. Next in the ring, Nilforushan and Pegasus had a quicker time of 42.04, but knocked the last two fences down for eight faults and fifth place. Even faster than the trips before her, Van Breemen and Chepepe La Escondida had a great time of 39.86 but also incurred eight faults, ending up fourth. Parker and Clever looked as though they were going to take over the lead but lowered the height of the second to last fence in a time of 41.69 for second. Pizarro in the tack of Crossing Jordan Mercedes Benz also dislodged a rail early in the jump off in a time of 42.60 for four faults and third place overall.
Staying in California through the Showpark All Seasons Tournament in September, Azcarraga and several other Mexican riders have been competing at the Blenheim horse shows for many years.

“I brought five of my own and two of the kids’ horses.” he said. “My son was fourth in the 1.35m Classic so we are happy campers today.”