Entering the ring as the youngest competitor in the class, Carlee McCutcheon nabbed her first CSI3* win Saturday to cap a successful week at World Equestrian Center—Ocala (Florida). Riding Aralyn Blue, a mare owned by the nonprofit Road to the Top program, the 21-year-old topped an eight-horse jump-off in the $120,000 Florida Coat Equipment Grand Prix.

McCutcheon came back fourth into the ring over the short course designed by Great Britain’s Ben Townley, knowing she was chasing New Zealand’s Sharn Wordley and Brin D’or De Haute Melen Z, who had posted the only clear round to that point, with a time of 38.31 seconds.  

She knew her strategy was to use the 15-year-old Oldenburg mare’s (Chacco-Blue—Apienne, Ludwigs AS) powerful stride to her advantage. Doing that, and leaving all the rails up, they stopped the clocks at 36.93 seconds to take the top spot. 

“Her stride is so massive,” McCutcheon said, “so I always make a tentative plan knowing that there might always be one less. From one to two, I kind of changed my mind a bit. She jumped so high over the second jump, so I knew I had to push throughout the rest of the jump-off. Her stride is so massive, so I think I was able to leave a stride out pretty much the rest of the way around after that.”

The second-youngest athlete in the field, Ireland’s Francis Derwin, was the only other rider to produce a clear jump-off round aboard Flexi K. Their time of 37.04 seconds earned them second place, while Wordley finished in third.

Saturday’s three-star win is another milestone victory for McCutcheon, the 2023 winner of the ASPCA Maclay Final and a member of the gold-medal team for last summer’s FEI Jumping Nations Cup Youth Final in Leir, Belgium.

At WEC—Ocala last week alone, she earned a third-place finish in Thursday’s CSI3* grand prix qualifier with Aralyn Blue, and later that same day captured the CSIU25 Grand Prix win aboard her second mount, Coco Mercedes.

McCutcheon took over the ride on Aralyn Blue, a Slovenian-bred mare previously owned by Ann Thompson and ridden by Jessica Collins, and developed to the five-star level by Great Britain’s Harry Charles, in January 2025. Since then, the mare has helped McCutcheon find her footing in the senior ranks, carrying her around her first CSI3* during the Winter Equestrian Festival last February and partnering with her in their gold-medal effort in Belgium in September and her first senior Nations Cup team appearance in the Vejer de la Frontera CSIO3* (Spain) in October.

“She is, without a doubt, the most talented horse I’ve ever had the opportunity to ride,” McCutcheon said. “Ann Thompson and Jess Colins presented me the opportunity to ride her last winter in Wellington, and of course it was a no-brainer. She’s better at this sport than I am! It’s just unbelievable; she gives me this sense of confidence that I can’t describe. I just know she’s going to take care of me, and that’s exactly what she did tonight.”  

There’s not enough that I can say to thank Ann and Jess; she’s completely changed my life.

“I jumped her in the U25 series last year in Wellington,” McCutcheon continued. “She gave me the opportunity to jump my first three-star, we were second in the U25 Final; she gave me my first two-star grand prix win, and tonight, my first three-star grand prix win, as well as my first senior Nations Cup experience. She holds a very special place in my heart, and I’m just forever grateful for her and to Ann Thompson for having this be a reality for me.”

She also expressed her gratitude for being part of the Road To The Top program and the support system it provides. 

“The opportunity to have this ride and ride in the Road To The Top program and the team with Nick Skelton and Laura Kraut gives me such a sense of confidence that I can’t even describe,” she said. “The whole support system with Road To The Top, I would not be here today without it. What Laura Kraut and Katie Prudent have done for a young rider like myself, I can’t even really put into words. I just feel immensely grateful for the village of people it takes to make nights like these possible.”

See complete results here.