Photo by Randi Muster (Pablo Barrios and Simply The Best)
The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of competition that conclude on April 4, 2010, and they will be awarding almost $6 million in prize money through the circuit.
Philip DeVita, Jr., designed the courses in the Mogavero Arena for all of the young jumper classes. In both the five- and six-year-old classes, there were 10 numbered obstacles in the timed first round, which included an in and out and a two stride.
The $1,000 YJC Five-Year-Old class began first thing Wednesday morning. The time allowed in the first round was 71 seconds. A field of eight competitors came out to compete, but only four successfully navigated the course and produced a clean round. It was Simply The Best and Barrios that proved to be the best of the morning. The pair stopped the timers at 52.815 seconds, which was good enough to take the lead. Kelly Soleau and Itty Bitty were right behind in 53.372 seconds for second place, while Peter Leone rode Lionshare Farm's Lyla to third in 64.340 seconds.
Simply the Best is a five-year-old mare by Couleur-Rubin out of Rio Grande.
Barrios smiled, "I bought her 10 months ago for my wife, but she started jumping too good so I stole her away." He continued, "She is very consistent for a five-year-old, and this week is my first time doing the whole series with her because I felt she was too green to just go in the Friday class."
The $1,500 YJC Six-Year-Old class was the second class in the Mogavero ring. The course was the same track as the previous class, and there were 17 competitors in the class, but only six produced a clean timed round. It was Asta Torokvei and Chabadue, who rode to the win in a time of 53.469 seconds. Beth Underhill and her mount, Hoolihoo, owned by Iron Horse Farm, were a close second, stopping the clock in 53.673 seconds. Frankie Chesler-Ortiz and Masquerade, owned by Sher-Al Farm, were third in 60.678 seconds.
Torokvei rode Chabadue, a six-year-old by Chacco Blue out of Kalibri, for Westhaven Farm.
The last of the young jumper classes to wrap up the morning was the $1,500 YJC Seven-/Eight-Year-Old class. Of the 41 entries that competed, 21 had a faultless round. The track consisted of 10 obstacles, which included a liverpool, an in-and-out, and a two stride. It was Pablo Barrios who dominated the division obtaining the first, second, and fourth spots on his horses, which were all owned by Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal.
The first of Barrios' entries to enter the ring was G&C Con Air. The pair produced a great time of 58.649 seconds that held the lead at the time, but would eventually finish in fourth. Laurie Bucci and her mount Arabella, owned by Peter Barry, produced a great effort that would later finish in third. The pair stopped the timers at 58.461 seconds. Barrios and G&C ODD came back to overtake Barrios' previous lead. The pair went straight to the top of the class in a time of 57.546 seconds, which would later be good enough for the second-place finish.
G&C Continus Grannus was the last of Barrios' horses to enter, and it proved to be the best of the day in the young jumper class. The pair stopped the timers in a blazing time of 53.776 seconds, which would prevail as the lead and finish in the first-place spot.
Barrios and the Mirabals found G&C Continus Grannus in Germany and purchased him last October. The eight-year-old gelding is by Contendro out of Argentinus and had last week off from showing. "He's been pretty good," Barrios said. "He came in fresh and jumped really well. This is the second class that he has won here."
Barrios had an advantage in the class after have two horses in the class before G&C Continus Grannus. "I was leading with my other horse, who is a big-strided horse," he explained, "(But with G&C Continus Grannus) I left strides out in the last two lines. It made him go pretty fast."
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The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of top competition running from January 13 through April 4. WEF is run by Equestrian Sport Productions, LLC, and Wellington Equestrian Partners and held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. All 12 shows are "AA" rated and Jumper Rated 6, and more than $5.5 million in prize money will be awarded.
WEF is proud to be supported by their title sponsor, FTI Consulting, Inc. FTI Consulting, Inc., exists to help companies and their stakeholders protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex economic, legal and regulatory environment. FTI is the trusted advisor entrenched in many of the game-changing events that make headlines, move markets and create business history. For more information, please visit www.fticonsulting.com.
During the 12 weeks of WEF, "Saturday Night Lights" headlines the entertainment each Saturday night where spectators not only enjoy the grand prix class, but a street carnival, live music, and numerous dining options with box seats, sports bars, and the famed Tiki Hut for front row fun.
Please visit www.equestriansport.com or call (561) 793-5867 for more information.