Hayley Waters and Uppie De Lis Take Grand Prix

Hayley Waters and Uppie De Lis (Photo: Sportfot)

Mill Spring, NC - Hayley Waters of Sparr, FL, and Uppie De Lis took top honors in the $65,000 Tryon Resort Grand Prix, stopping the second round timers in 36.021 seconds. David Blake of Wellington, FL, and Goldbreaker took second place with a jump-off time of 36.632 seconds, while Emanuel Andrade of Wellington, FL, grabbed third place aboard Clouwni and a short course time of 37.755 seconds.

The $65,000 Tryon Resort Grand Prix saw 24 entries, twelve of which returned for the jump-off track set by Dean Rhienheimer. Waters explained that when she walked the course with her trainer, Daniel Damen, they tried to focus on each of her three mounts as individuals. Waters placed in the money with two of her three mounts, earning 12th place honors aboard Qurint.

David Blake and Goldbreaker (Photo: Sportfot)

"Everything [about the course] rode how it walked," she said. She elaborated that while some elements were challenging for her other mounts, "Uppie" a 2001 NRPS gelding owned by Chuck Waters, is a veteran jumper and completed the course with ease.

"Uppie's sixteen-he knows what's going on. With one of my horses, I knocked a rail on the skinny down because we kind of got going around the turn to it. I was a little close on time with the other horse, but I thought it was a good course. I was surprised by how many went clear tonight," she added.

Emanuel Andrade and Clouwni (Photo: Sportfot)

Waters has been teamed up with Uppie De Lis since this past winter, which she spent in Ocala, FL. "I bought him from Andy Kocher, who has had a lot of success with him," she explained. "It's been really nice to have this horse to learn to jump bigger tracks."

Although her long-term plans for Uppie De Lis are still unclear, Waters explained that they will travel to Saugerties, NY, in the near future and she will continue to learn from him in each competition opportunity they get.

Hayley Waters, David Blake, and Emanuel Andrade in their presentation ceremony. (Photo: Sportfot)

"He's been a great mount for me. I've already l learned so much from him in just a short period of time. I'm really looking forward to where our partnership goes. We've had a great season so far and I'm proud of the way he's gone," she concluded.

For more information on Tryon International Equestrian Center, please visit www.tryon.com.