Thermal, Calif. – The athletes of the 2025 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals – West completed the first two phases of competition on Friday morning at Desert International Horse Park. A total of 22 entries completed their flatwork and gymnastic phases ahead of Saturday’s jumper course.
Katalina Raiszadeh (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) finished day one at the top of the leaderboard with Cetello, Zadie Stack’s 2007 Holsteiner gelding. The pair earned a score of 89 for Phase I and a class-leading score of 90 for Phase II. The scoring system for Talent Search Finals is weighted with a multiplier of 1.5 for the gymnastic phase, giving Raiszadeh and Cetello a comfortable lead on a total score of 224.0.
The new format for this year’s final had each entry complete an individual flatwork exercises, followed immediately by the gymnastic test. The flat phase had athletes navigate through a pattern designed by judges Lillie Keenan and Jimmy Torano which included elements ranging from serpentines and figure eights to shoulder in, counter canter, and simple and flying lead changes.
During the riders’ meeting on Thursday, Keenan and Torano emphasized that the flat phase would not be judged like a dressage test and picture-perfect execution wasn’t the primary goal. Instead, the Phase I test was intended as an opportunity for the judges to evaluate horsemanship skills, specifically how they used the exercises to give their horses the warmup needed for the jumping tests that would follow.
Similarly, Phase II asked the athletes to complete a course that included multiple gymnastic lines. Rather than being judged as a timed jumper course, the judges scored the athletes based on their effective riding over the course.
All combinations are set to return on Saturday for Phase III, where they will complete a jumper-style course. The top four will return for the final phase, which will determine the final placings and overall 2025 Talent Search Finals – West champion.
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