After having won Olympic team gold in 2004, Ward and Sapphire went back and did it again at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She never has an easy class, and she is a big day horse whom I hope will continue her record of success for years to come."Īnd that she did. "It always amazes me how she keeps coming through in the pressure moments. "Her record this year was certainly one of her best," Ward said at the time. Her numerous wins throughout 2007 earned more than $220,000 in prize money and the title of American Grand Prix Association (AGA) Horse of the Year. She next flew to Calgary to jump in the Spruce Meadows Masters where she was a member of the Nations Cup team. Sapphire then hopped on a plane to Europe and continued jumping well at the CHIO Aachen World Equestrian Festival and the Rotterdam CSIO*****. McDevitt Style Award, which is awarded annually to the rider who exemplifies the best style of riding during the Grand Prix of Devon. Sapphire's performance also helped Ward win the Richard E. Sapphire's bank account continued to accrue when she stepped onto the Devon Horse Show grounds and won the $75,000 grand prix by more than three seconds. Less than two weeks later, she was second in the Budweiser American Invitational in preparation for the FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas. When the stakes were high, Sapphire was at her finest. In 2007, Sapphire forever made history by winning the $300,000 CN Worldwide Florida Open Grand Prix, CSI*****, the largest purse class ever offered in an outdoor Show jumping event in the United States. Sapphire wrapped up 2006 by winning the Rolex/ United States Equestrian Federation National Show Jumping Championship, and those top placings just scratch the surface of her impressive year. In 2005, Ward and Sara earned another team gold as part of the 2005 Samsung Super League Team, and in 2006 they claimed the team silver at the FEI World Equestrian Games. Still a rookie when she was part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2004 Olympic Games, Sapphire, or "Sara," would become one of the most well-known horses in recent show jumping history. Shining in a sport dominated by boys, Sapphire, owned by Tom Grossman and Blue Chip Bloodstock, jumped clear through Show jumping's glass ceiling and into the hearts of many. Little did he know that his courageous mare would be so victorious. Ernest Hemingway once coined the phrase, "courage is grace under pressure" - a phrase that came to perfectly describe the performances of Belgian Warmblood mare, Sapphire.įrom the moment longtime rider McLain Ward first tried the mare in 2002, he knew she was courageous.
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