Karen Polle Wins $250,000 Hampton Classic Grand Prix

Karen Polle, 23, of New York City was the winner of the final jump-off of the $250,000 Hampton Classic Grand Prix, presented by Longines on Sunday.

Polle and her horse, Wings, completed the round perfectly, finishing in 47.96 seconds.

Todd Minikus, 53, of Wellington, Florida, took second place on Babalou 41 (4 faults/43.89 seconds), Chris Sorensen, 33, of Canada took third on Bobby (4 faults/46.23 seconds), and Meagan Nusz, of The Woodlands, Texas, took fourth on Dynamo (8 faults/47.58 seconds).

“This is definitely the biggest win in my career, and I can’t believe it,” Polle said. “I can’t believe I won this at the Hampton Classic!”

“[Polle]’s always been a very good rider, and she’s won a lot,” Minikus, who used to train Polle said. “And With Wings is a very special horse-they’re a great match. Japan is lucky to have her.”

“The one thing that she forgot, though, is that when you’re in the jump-off, you have to let the old guy win. So she wasn’t the best of students, obviously,” he joked.

Polle, who’s about to start her senior year at Yale University, claimed her Japanese citizenship in 2014.

She’s hoping to qualify for the Japanese Olympic team-which, she said, just earned an Olympic berth last week-in 2016 and when Japan hosts the Olympics in 2020.