OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Williston-based rider Aaron Vale and Thinkslikeahorse’s Gray’s Inn won the CSI four-star $200,000 Live Oak International Grand Prix on March 15, 2026 at Live Oak Stud.
There were 23 entries contesting the first-round track designed by Olaf Petersen Jr. Vale was one of eight rider/horse combinations to jump clear and return for the short course, and five of those riders and horses would jump double clear, with Vale’s margin of victory being only .46 seconds better than runner-up, Ireland’s Francis Derwin and the 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Flexi K. Ireland’s Robert Blanchette and the 15-year-old Westphalian mare Chardonnay placed third, .69 seconds behind, Daniel Coyle and Incredible were fourth and Hunter Holloway and Henry Jota Ariel were fifth in the tightly contested class.
Vale will be riding this week, representing the United States in the Longines League of Nations at the World Equestrian Center on March 21, 2026. Vale was part of the U.S. team that won the event in 2025.
“Daniel Coyle was in the lead when I went in,” said Vale. “He’s known to be quite fast. I got on my horse for the jump-off and I watched his round. I didn’t think it was his fastest go, but that’s a quality horse and he’s a top rider. I thought it was beatable. Could I get the time in and leave the fences up was the question, and then I knew I had people behind me who are quite quick. Francis (Derwin) has been here this winter, and I’ve watched him jump a lot. He’s right there against the clock all the time. Rob (Blanchette) and his mare (Chardonnay) are very fast.”
Vale’s horse stumbled after the second fence in the jump-off, which made the line ride forward and the momentum carried the rider/horse combination to the next jumping efforts, and they took a tight angle to the vertical after the combination. Vale knew that he had fast riders behind him in the order of go, both Blanchette and Derwin, so he and Gray’s Inn had their work cut out for them going in.
“If I was conservative, it was just on the track,” said Vale. “I was very fast, pace wise, but I gave myself just a hair bit of room to get squared in the second last because it was very square and big enough for my horse. I landed in a rhythm that carried me to the last fence. I pushed through the timers. My round I was quite happy with it. It was very close and very nerve wracking, watching Robbie come to the last jump. I knew it was close and the clock ticked on just past my time. I thought Francis had me, and somehow the clock moved extra fast. I was very happy.”
Thinkslikeahorse’s Gray’s Inn, a 12-year-old Warmblood, is usually ridden by Vale’s wife, Mallory, but the couple have played a key role in the gray gelding’s development, with Aaron Vale and Gray’s Inn winning a number of big classes. Gray’s Inn has an interesting story of his own, but that hasn’t stopped him from evolving into an elite athlete.
“He is a family horse, eventually my daughter will probably inherit him for some jumping,” said Vale. “I bought him years ago with a partner. We bought a 5-year-old, and then he arrived in America and he was four. Somehow, there was a miscommunication on the paperwork, so the few people I had lined up to sell him to weren’t interested because he was too young. As a young horse, he’s pretty and easy to ride.”
Vale ended up buying his partner out, and the Vale’s Thinkslikeahorse owns Gray’s Inn outright. Live Oak International was the perfect venue for the combination, offering good prize money, and the rider always brings two young horses to the event that is now in its 35th year, that they’re trying to develop, providing them with an opportunity to jump on the grass, something that riders in the United States don’t get to do as much of these days, he said.
“It’s really nice for an eight or nine-year-old to get on the grass,” said Vale. “Once we go to Europe in the summer, you have to jump on grass. It’s a nice show to get younger horses on the grass in the second classes. There’s a lot of atmosphere here with the carriage horses. It’s a great Grand Prix with prize money and you get some experience with some younger horses with some extra atmosphere with a different jumping surface, and just a different feel than your regular horse show.”