Avery Griffin Wins the $75,000 Grand Prix in the Desert
The Teen Was Just One of Two Riders in the Jump-off
February 8, 2026 at 2:11 PMBy a.dunne
Avery Griffin and Oh My Star Van Strytem, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, won the $75,000 National PGA West Grand Prix in the desert by 0.117 seconds.
Griffin has been with Oh My Star for about two years, and Week 5 of the Desert Circuit marked their first time on the grass field at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, California.
Sticking to the plans
“We knew coming in that [the first round] was pretty challenging,” said Griffin, who trains with Martien Van Der Hoeven. “I got to go kind of middle of the class, so I definitely got to watch a few. [Oh My Star Van Strytem] jumps really, really well on grass. He’s been jumping beautifully lately, so I just stuck to my plan and tried to be very careful in the places that I noticed other people were struggling.”
Her plan for the jump-off was similar.
“I have a fast horse. His feet move very quickly. We just wanted to create a plan and stick to it and make [Emily] chase me a little bit. It ended up working out in my favor.”
At just 18 years old, Griffin was also presented as the winner of the $5,000 Perfect Products U25 held concurrently.
The runner-up
Griffin refers to Emily, who is Emily Esau Williams, the only other qualifier for the jump-off from the field of 19. Williams and Cascarado ended up in second place.
Tali Dejong incurred three time faults in the first round with her own Cas Final, to finish in third place.
Top Three Results
1 Avery Griffin - OH MY STAR VAN STRYTEM -0/ 0/41.212
2 Emily Esau Williams - CASCARADO - 0/0/41.329
3 Tali Dejong - CAS FINAL - 4/87.28
Kyle King, who one week ago won the $340,000 CSI5*-W Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ of Thermal with Kayenne Z, finished in fourth and eighth places, with Replay Touch Van De Stapelheyde (aka "Hyde") and Ninja BF, respectively. King was the fastest four-faulter in the first round with Hyde.
Photo credit: High Desert Sport Photo
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