Jad Dana and After Eight set fire to the rain
Lebanon’s Jad Dana continued his winning streak at the Winter Equestrian Festival winning the FEI 3-star 1.50m Classic with After Eight and he credits Leslie Howard for his success.
“I wouldn’t be able to do it without Leslie and all her experience,” Jad, 29, said of the Olympic gold medalist who took him on as a working student in 2020. After Eight became Jad’s ride, when Leslie was sidelined with a hip injury. The pair clicked and the 14-year old Swedish Warmblood mare has been in his string ever since.
“She used to be Leslie’s and then the incredible owners from Springhill Farm bought her for me to keep and it’s been incredible – two years later the mare is even better,” said Jad.
Jad and After Eight were last to go in a 10-strong jump off in the final class of WEF week 1 in the International ring. They delivered in a deluge of rain in a time of 34.37 to pip Brazil’s Luis Francisco de Azevedo and HFQ Quaman to the post by just over a second.
After Eight is a fiery one to watch. “You can’t ride that blood out of her actually,” said Jad. “This is where she gets her jump from. You try to make her too quiet, it’s not her. She’s not going to perform. I think more than anything it’s a great match because I love them that way. I love them just really fast and careful and game, because I’m very competitive. In rounds like this when you feel that the horse wants it as much as you do, that’s a great feeling.”
In spite of appearances, After Eight is not a complicated horse. “As crazy as she looks, as hot she is, she actually has one of the simplest programs,” Jad said. “She’s incredibly talented, you don’t have to really produce the jump or teach her how to jump, she jumps so so well. Less work is more for her. Really you just have to keep her happy.”
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