International show jumping action culminated on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at the iconic HITS Del Mar Horsepark in Del Mar, California. As the premiere event of the FEI CSI2* week, the $90,000 Maria Mendelsohn/Douglas Elliman CSI2* Grand Prix grabbed the attention of riders and spectators alike on the venue’s Grand Prix Grass Field. The event is one of many featured classes in an action-packed schedule, including elite hunter, jumper, and equitation competition, also boasting a World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) designation. Battling a field of top athletes at the West Coast venue, the anthem for Ireland ultimately rang loud at the class’s completion as James Chawke and Daido van’t Ruytershof Z led the way in the afternoon’s victory gallop.
With a field of 33 horse-and-rider duos to challenge, Canadian FEI Level 3 course designer Meghan Rawlins set an elegant and delicate track worthy of the ten countries represented in the international field. Rawlins’s questions kept the riders guessing, with nine pairings cut short by a single downed rail on course and another entry ticking just over the allotted time. At the class’s completion, a total of eight talented combinations passed Rawlins’s test, with seven returning to turn on the speed over the short course.
As the time-to-beat in the jump-off dwindled, rails came at the expense of speed, and only four of the returning riders managed to produce a double-clear performance. The final podium showed off the strength in the international field, with three different nations represented amongst the top three. Piloting Corsari Equestrian, LLC’s Napoleon van den Dael, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (For Passion D’ive Z x Eros Platiere), Melody Liu (USA) represented the home nation as she delivered a clean round with a time of 42.38 seconds for third place. Australia’s Matthew Williams shaved just under a second off of Liu’s time to snatch second place with NKH LLC’s 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Q-Verdi x Rheinsberg), NKH Vittorio S, in 41.48 seconds. Despite their best efforts, none in the field came close to catching Chawke’s time of 39.70 seconds, which secured the win.
“My horse is very quick, so I always know I have a good chance in the jump-off,” explained Chawke. “Our plan went how I wanted it to and it was fast enough today.
“She really seems to like this horse show,” he continued of Jan Van Alken’s 11-year-old Zangersheide mare (Dieu-Merci van T&L x Bamako de Muze). “We came here in May and she was good in the grand prix, and she was good here last year as well. I’ve had her for about a year and a half now, and she’s just a really cool horse. I will plan to show her again next week, and then she’ll have a bit of a break and do a couple of three- or four-stars towards the end of the year.”
International competition for the week concluded with the afternoon’s event, but will resume on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, during HITS Del Mar Summer Classic II. National hunter, jumper, and equitation competition continues through Sunday, August 24. For complete results, please visit www.showmanagementsystem.com.
