Maximum Effort: Karl Cook And Kalinka Make Cross Country Trip Worth It With Win In Hampton Classic Grand Prix

On Friday, September 2, American rider Karl Cook posted a photo to his popular Instagram feed — a shot of him and his mare, Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet, in mid-air over a jump at the Hampton Classic. Her front legs are tucked as high as they can go, practically grazing the bottom of her neck, the lower part of her legs almost touching her upper chin.

To Cook — and anyone who is familiar with the sport — the photo speaks volumes about the kind of horse Kalinka is, and why Cook has had so much success in the show ring with her as his partner.

He makes the point in the caption, which reads: “No matter how well I ride, I can’t teach real try in a horse, it’s a pure trait.” He praises the mare, who he calls “my angel,” and adds, “either you want to try, or you don’t.”

Cook and Kalinka most certainly wanted to try on Sunday afternoon, September 4, and it paid off. The pair, who had won the Grand Prix qualifier on Friday afternoon, came back and won the $410,000 five-star Hampton Classic Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon, coming out on top in a field of 30 horse and rider combinations entered in the class, and among nine who made the jump-off.

It was the first win in a five-star Grand Prix class for Cook and for Kalinka, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood owned by Cook’s mother, Signe Ostby, and they made the most of what was Cook’s first ever appearance in the Classic. Cook hails from California, where he owns and operates Pomponio Ranch, in Rancho Santa Fe, near San Diego. The win was also an incredible comeback story for Kalinka, who suffered a serious injury during a fall at a horse show in Upperville, Virginia, in 2019, tearing several muscles in her shoulder. It took more than a year for Kalinka to return to competition, and at the time of the injury, Cook and his team initially thought they’d have to put the mare down. Over time, Cook and his team at Pomponio nursed her back to health, and against the odds, she not only survived but kept getting better.

The win in the Grand Prix represented the culmination of that journey.

Cook had the advantage of going last in the order on Sunday because of his win in the qualifier. Going last enables riders to watch earlier rounds, spot trouble areas in the course, and adjust the initial game plans they make when they walk the course before the class. Cook also rode last in the jump-off, which is always a distinct advantage as well. Last year’s winners, Daniel Bluman — representing Israel — and his gray mare, Gemma W, had gone clear in a time of 36.93 seconds, giving Cook and Kalinka a time to beat. While earlier riders in the jump-off need to strike a balance between going fast and being careful enough that they don’t knock down any rails and incur penalty faults, the final rider knows a specific time to beat, and can thus take more chances. Cook and Kalinka were up for the challenge, and edged out Bluman and Gemma in 36.70 seconds.

Cook spoke adoringly of Kalinka in the press conference after the win, and referenced the Instagram post he’d put online days earlier. For the uninitiated, the photo shows an equine athlete performing to the peak of her abilities; it’s the equivalent of a soccer goalie in a fully horizontal dive, arms outstretched, making a save with the tips of their fingers; a basketball player diving under the scorer’s table for a rebound; a first baseman in a near full split extension to make a catch for an out.

Kalinka’s preternatural ability to try her heart out, and her supernatural competitiveness as an equine athlete is what has allowed her to overcome not only a potentially career-ending injury, but also what typically might be perceived as shortcomings: She is smaller physically than many of her fellow equine competitors, and the way she jumps is not considered technically perfect. She is also, by Cook’s account, “hot” (which is horse speak for high strung), and “a bit wacky.”

She came into the ring bucking and tossing her head around before the start of the jump-off, and during the ribbon presentation after her win, had to be escorted into the ring by a groom, who had her on a leadline, with Cook still on her back. She was not interested in standing still for more than a few seconds for a photo, and made it clear by her behavior that it was probably wise for anyone else standing in the ring to keep a horse lengths distance from her. Before the start of class, she bit Cook in the chest, through his shirt, leaving a deep red mark, and before entering the ring for the jump-off, Cook said she “nearly ran over” her groom.

Kalinka’s diva-esque behavior seemingly does nothing to diminish Cook’s admiration for her, and may, in fact, only enhance it. She cannot say so, of course, but it’s not a stretch to imagine Kalinka feels the same way about him. Her desire to try might be a natural trait, but it is also likely nurtured by the trust she has in Cook, who admits to going through “ups and downs” in the process of earning it, but who also clearly appreciates his teammate for who she is, likely because of what they’ve been through together. While walking back to the FEI stabling area after the press conference, Cook said he doesn’t try to change Kalinka; that dealing with her personality quirks often includes just ignoring them — which is its own form of management, he said — rather than trying to discipline her, except for the occasions when he feels like she’s specifically trying to get a rise out of him.

“She’s just so smart,” he said.

Together, Cook and Kalinka executed a smart plan for riding both the original 17-obstacle course (where the jumps were set at 1.60 meters, or roughly 5 feet 3 inches, and many of them were nearly as wide) and the shorter jump-off track, both set by course designer Alan Wade. Along with Cook, eight other riders had clear rounds, including David Blake, Katie Dinan, Mario Deslauriers, Schuyler Riley, Adrienne Sternlicht, junior rider Mimi Gochman, who had turned 18 just a few days earlier, Devin Ryan, and last year’s winner, Bluman.

Blake rode first in the jump-off, going clear in 40.30 seconds, while Dinan, an American rider, entered the ring second and was also clear in a time of 38.32 seconds with her horse, a 17-year-old gelding named Brego R’N B. They ultimately finished third. The next three riders — Deslauriers, Riley, and Sternlicht — all had a rail down, before Gochman rode clear in 38.73 seconds, which ended up being good enough for fourth. Ryan followed, and had a rail down, before Bluman went clear with the fastest time thus far, finishing with no faults in 36.93 seconds, meaning the only thing standing between him and a repeat win was Cook and Kalinka. At the press conference afterward, Bluman said he knew he would likely end up settling for second place.

“I knew when I crossed the timers that he was going to beat my time,” Bluman said. “It was just really a matter of if the rail stayed up or didn’t.”

Bluman — a crowd favorite because of his emotional displays of joy when he goes clear or wins a class, fist-pumping and waving to the crowd — joked that he did his best to try and amplify the crowd noise knowing that it might put more pressure on Cook and Kalinka, who Cook said is often “triggered” by crowd noise, and clapping in particular. That seemed evident when she entered the ring, and it took Cook a moment to get her under control before heading to the first jump, but ultimately they delivered.

The approach coming off the second fence to the third obstacle of the jump-off was one of the most challenging parts of that course, requiring an extremely tight right-hand turn off the second fence to the third, which needed to be jumped at an extreme angle, and was followed by another tight turn, to the left, to a two-jump combination along the wall of the VIP tent area.

Executing tight turns, and figuring out where to be careful and where to be fast, is crucial in the jump-off, where fractions of a second can be the difference between a win and second place, and where even a slight mistake heading up to a jump can lead to a rail coming down. Cook explained the approach he took to that part of the course in particular.

“I wanted to be pointing to the right coming off of fence two, so I put less pressure on myself to do [seven strides between fences one and two],” he explained. “I was the only one that did eight [strides] but that pointed me right toward fence three. And so I could hook one hell of an angle on fence three. It also helped that two days ago in the qualifier, there was a left turn to a vertical with a liverpool [water obstacle] and I did a similar angle. It was off the left, but this was the right. So I knew from two days ago what it felt like. And I knew it also gives you confidence in your horse that you know when you point them, they’re going to go.”

He added that by taking that tack, he also set himself up for a good angle to the combination, which set him up for a strong finish.

The battle between Cook and Bluman at the end was reminiscent of last year’s finish, only with Bluman in the opposite role this time around. Last year, seven-time Hampton Classic Grand Prix winner and Olympic gold and silver medalist McLain Ward — another crowd favorite — went clear and set a tough-to-beat pace going second-to-last in the jump-off, only to see Bluman and Gemma rise to the occasion and beat him. Ward had a rail down in the first round, which is why he was not in the jump-off this year.

Having done what Cook did last year, Bluman said he was not surprised by the way things turned out, particularly because he’s known Cook for more than 10 years, and knows what kind of competitor he is.

“I knew that Carl was going to get my time,” Bluman said. “When competitors like us go one after the other, we don’t ride to be second, that’s the truth. And he was going to go for it.”

In addition to the Grand Prix win, Cook also claimed the $30,000 Longines Rider Challenge, awarded to the rider who accumulates the most points throughout the week in the open jumper classes. Cook finished with 330 points, ahead of American rider Aaron Vale (300 points) and Bluman (280).