Traverse City, MI – June 6, 2025—Charlotte Jacobs (USA) was crowned leading rider of the 2024 Traverse City Horse Shows and is back to familiar winning ways with a victory in the $32,000 CSI3* Welcome Stake riding North Star’s Instrumental on Friday of opening week at the Traverse City Spring Series, presented by Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel.
The Spring Series continues through June 29 and features three weeks of FEI jumper competition, weekly hunter derbies, including the International Hunter Derby Regional Championships, in addition to the USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships and the Markel/USHJA Platinum & Zone Jumper Team Championships.
Nine horses advanced to the tie-breaking jump-off over courses designed by Guilherme Jorge (BRA). The home nation swept all three podium placings, with fifteen-time FEI World Cup™ Finals contender Richard Spooner taking second aboard Lyjanair, owned by Jumping Syndications Int’l. He and the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding—the former ride of Sweden’s Rolf-Göran Bengtsson—stopped the clock at 43.68 seconds, just three tenths behind Jacobs’ 43.31-second time to beat.
Hunter Holloway rounded out the top three riding 10-year-old Argentinian-bred mare Henry Jota Ariel by stopping the clock at 45.17 seconds for owner Hays Investment Corp.
Coming off a quiet winter—according to Jacobs—Instrumental is back in top form for the summer season in Northern Michigan.
“We took our time with her. She has so much ability, jump and scope and we’ve been trying to harness that and control it. Now’s the time for her to be quick and competitive—I’m very proud of her today,” said Jacobs of the 10-year-old (Qualdandro x Indoctro) previously developed by Ireland’s Shane Breen and Peder Fredricson of Sweden.
After pipping Spooner as the last to go in the jump-off, Jacobs noted, “I think I was very good back to the second-to-last, and I was able to do one less than most to the double. I have a huge stride, so I took advantage of that to the last.”
Jacobs is starting the season in top form and plans to step Instrumental into some of the CSI5* offerings later in Traverse City.
Alongside Instrumental, she will pilot a deep string of FEI-caliber horses, including Korbach van de Renger, Playboy JT Z, and Thomascourt Ballypatrick, as well as a promising roster of up-and-coming talent. Jacobs starts the season with hopes of chasing down consecutive leading rider titles. She’ll also bring a group of future stars to the USHJA Young Jumper Championships, an event proudly supported by her family’s North Star, as the presenting sponsor.
“Each year, I can’t wait to get back to Traverse City,” she concluded. “It’s a lovely place to be and the horses love it here; they always jump great.”
International competition comes to a peak at Flintfields Horse Park on Sunday with the $117,000 Four G Surfaces CSI3* Grand Prix. To see full results from the $32,000 CSI3* Welcome Stake, click here.
The first of the season’s weekly $15,000 World Wide Technology Team Jumper Challenge capped the day on Friday afternoon in the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring. Two teams of four athletes took to the Nations Cup format class, hoping to claim the title over two rounds. Team ‘Five O’Clock Docs,’ made up of Duncan Peters, Emma Shook, Lori Bidwell, and Lilly Anthes, took the top call after finishing on a score of zero in the second round.
The World Wide Technology Team Jumper Challenge will return weekly to Flintfields Horse Park throughout the 2025 Spring Series, Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (GLEF), presented by B&D Builders, and Tournament of Champions.
Alex Granato Takes the Cake in USHJA National Derby
Alex Granato’s decision to transition 11-year-old gelding Cupcake from the jumper to hunter ring proved to be paying off after a win in the $10,000 USHJA National Open Hunter Derby on Friday during opening week of the Traverse City Spring Series, presented by Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel.
Twenty competitors took to the Highstreet Arena before the top 12 classic-round scores advanced to a shorter, handy track. Granato, who hails from Lexington, KY, and longtime partner Cupcake, owned by Granato and the Bright Lights Group, returned last in the handy. Holding the top score from the classic round of 93, Granato and Cupcake stayed well in the lead on an impressive 94 in the handy.
Granato and Cupcake have had a long-standing partnership that came together when the gelding was just six years old. Competing through the four-star level in the jumper arena, Cupcake has shown his talents on the international stage and will now take on the hunter rings.
“The plan was always for him to be a big-time jumper,” said Granato of the gelding by Balou. “He’s super talented and scopey, but his mentality took a bit longer to develop. He had a great last year in two- and three-star level classes through the summer, but when it came time to spend the winter in Florida, he was never as happy as he was up north. I wanted to find a way he could progress in the sport and stay happy year-round.”
With his stunning looks and impressive jump, Cupcake made a strong hunter prospect for Granato and his team at Mad Season. “We’d always made comments about making him a hunter just based on his looks,” said Granato. “We took him to a friend’s farm in Kentucky to play around over some hunter fences and thought the parts might be there. This is our third week in the hunters, and I feel like he’s taking a breath mentally that I never felt in the jumper ring.”
Taking home the red ribbon was Traverse City regular Nick Haness of Temecula, CA, and Euphoric, owned by Wade Equestrian Farms. The pair came home on a classic score of 86 and a handy tally of 92 to total 178. Coming in third was Hunter Holloway of Topeka, KS, and Gambler, owned by S.T. Rugglin LLC, scoring 87 and 90.5 to total 177.5.
In addition to claiming the win, Cupcake also received recognition as the Platinum Performance Horse of the Week, a title presented weekly throughout the Traverse City Horse Shows.
With plans to continue Cupcake’s hunter journey, Granato now aims for the World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) week at Flintfields Horse Park during the second week of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (GLEF).
For full results from the $10,000 USHJA National Derby, click here.
Action continued in the Highstreet Arena with the $10,000 USHJA Jr/Am National Hunter Derby. Eighteen riders took to the same classic round track before the top twelve returned to decide the winner. Of the returning handy competitors, Augusta Iwasaki of Calabasas, CA, and Nieto took the top call for owner Laurie Jueneman.
With a shining score of 93 in the classic round, Iwasaki and the 7-year-old Dutch gelding sat on top heading into the handy round. They couldn’t be caught after earning a second-round score of 94 to take the win on a 187 total.
“Today is my first time riding him,” said Iwasaki of Nieto. “My mom [Elizabeth Reilly] and Don Stewart are good friends. He asked if I would ride the horse today, and it worked out as well as it could have.”
A junior at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and a member of the division I equestrian team, as well as catch riding throughout her career, Iwasaki is no stranger to thinking on her feet when it comes to new mounts.
“I always like to check how a horse responds to my leg if I haven’t sat on them before,” she said. “We gave Nieto a nice school earlier in the day and once I entered the ring I could tell he was really game, which paid off in the handy.”
Coming in second as the only other combination to consistently score above 90 was Natalie Jayne of Elgin, IL, and Starstruck, owned by Ashleen Lee. The pair finished on scores of 92 and 91 to total 183. Third place honors went to Caitlyn Grimes of West Broomfield, MI, and her own Quo Tumus VDF, scoring an 89 and 91 for an even 180.
With her first victory of the season, Iwasaki now sits at the top of the standings for the $5,000 Leading Amateur Hunter Bonus. Grimes currently leads the $5,000 Leading Junior Hunter Bonus leaderboard. Both bonus awards are sponsored by Makoto Farm, Hunter’s Edge, and the Zoology Foundation. The winners will be determined during Week IV of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival, presented by B&D Builders.
For full results of the $10,000 USHJA Jr/Am National Derby, click here.
Highlighting Friday’s schedule in the GGT Footing Ring was the USHJA Pony Hunter Derby and $2,500 Traverse City Non-Pro Hunter Derby. The winning pony title belonged to Darby Mullally of Kalamazoo, MI, and Speaking Terms, owned by Alina Mclean, while the 2’6” derby title was claimed by Wren Baker of Ada, MI, riding Anakin, owned by Bobby Malmrose.
About Traverse City Horse Shows (TCHS)
Traverse City Horse Shows (TCHS) is a premier destination for summer equestrian events in North America, hosting 13 weeks of world-class competitions, including 12 weeks of FEI-ranked events. Nestled in the scenic landscape of Williamsburg, Michigan—just 15 minutes from downtown Traverse City—TCHS attracts elite equestrian talent from around the globe to Flintfields Horse Park—a venue that seamlessly blends top-tier sport with the natural beauty and vibrant culture of Northern Michigan.
For more information on the season, visit TraverseCityHorseShows.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
