Photo by Randi Muster (Katherine Schmidt was victorious in the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search.)
It was a full night of show jumping and entertainment for equestrian fans as they saw some of the best horses and riders in the world compete in the $75,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix, CSI**. Saturday's class was also the USEF USEF Selection Trial #2 and led to exciting results for America's show jumping team. The winner of the $75,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix, CSI** was Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil on Champ 163, owned by Legacy Stables LLC. Nicolas Pizarro of Mexico finished second on Crossing Jordan, while Laura Kraut and Happy Hill Farm's Cedric were third.
As of March 1, Kraut, of Wellington, FL, and Cedric are on the top of the leaderboard for the USEF Selection Trials, tied with Lauren Hough of Wellington, FL, on Quick Study, owned by Laura Mateo. Sitting in third with just one fault was Hillary Dobbs of Sussex, NJ, on Quincy B.
Guilherme Jorge of Brazil designed the challenging course, which featured a difficult opening line as well as a very careful triple combination. There were 14 numbered obstacles and 17 jumping efforts. Out of the 49 entries in the class, eight were clear in the first round. Of those eight, three were USEF Selection Trial riders who did not return for the jump-off because of horse declaration.
Riding Champ 163, a 1999 Holsteiner stallion (Kornblume x Coronado), Pessoa would set down a clear round in a winning time of 39.41 seconds to take the lead. This was their first grand prix win together.
Pessoa and Champ 163 were paired together a year ago, and Pessoa has had to adapt himself to the big stallion. "He's a larger horse than what I'm used to," he explained. "The last couple of weeks here, we changed his way of going a little bit, and it seems to be working. We give him more room to take off. I was coming too close (to the jump) and now I ride him a little bit different, and he seems to like it."
Pessoa would not be challenged by Laura Kraut and Cedric, who would take an easy clear round in 42.16 seconds to finish in third. "My goal was to jump a nice double clear," Kraut confirmed. "I made the turn from one to two, but I did it much slower than Rodrigo. I wanted him to get back in the ring. It's the beginning of the year for us and there's a lot of work to do. We had to get the rust out."
It was another great day for Kraut and Cedric, who won the Olympic Games Trials at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in 2008. Kraut believes that this year is different, thanks to Cedric's experience in the show ring.
"I haven't felt him better ever," she remarked. "He's now more seasoned; I can rely on him, whereas before I had to help him a lot. Now he's doing most of the work, and I just go along for the ride."
Kraut also feels that Cedric's success this week is meaningful. Peter Wetherill of Happy Hill Farm, Cedric's owner, passed away this past week. Kraut said, "I wish he was here to see this, but hopefully he knows about it. He would be very pleased."
With their first round clear, Hough and Quick Study sit tied atop the leaderboard in the USEF Selection Trials standings with Kraut. "For me personally, the horse jumped the first round as good as he could jump. He's a horse with a lot of energy. With only five in the jump-off, I wasn't going to go full speed, but I didn't think it would hurt to jump another round tonight. He's a horse where the more rounds he jumps, the better he is," Hough explained. "I'm very pleased with where we're sitting at the moment."
Jumper Highlights
Richard Spooner of Agua Dulce, CA, up on his mount Lady Like, owned by C&S Partnership, captured the victory in Wednesday's $8,000 Sentient Jet 1.45m Jumper Time First Round class at the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Second-place honors were awarded to McLain Ward on his horse Miss Liberty 7, owned by Overlook Farm, Inc. Kraut and Tortola, owned by Beverly Widdowson, finished up in the third spot.
The USEF Selection Trials, presented by Fidelity Investments, began on Thursday evening for the U.S. show jumping team, and it was Todd Minikus of Loxahatchee, FL, and Pavarotti, owned by Todd Minikus Ltd., who took the early lead by winning the USEF Selection Trial #1 over Wellington, FL's Margie Engle on Hidden Creek's Campella, owned by Hidden Creek Farm, and Rich Fellers of Wilsonville, OR, with Harry and Molly Chapman's Flexible.
For the first trial for the USEF WEG Show Jumping team, a course was set with 13 numbered obstacles in a Time First Round format. There were 44 entries in the class, and 13 found the way to a clear round. Fellers noted, "I thought the course was stout and there would be four or five clean."
Engle added, "It wasn't that technical yet, but it was a lot of big jumps. I think you saw a lot of good jumping. It shows that we have a lot of good horse/rider combinations in this country, maybe even more so this year than previous years. I think that's a good sign."
The fastest was Minikus on Pavarotti, a 13-year-old KWPN gelding (Lancelot x Renville). They finished the course in 83.24 seconds out of a late 40th position in the order. Engle and Hidden Creek's Campella crossed the timers in 84.03 seconds, and Fellers guided Flexible to finish in 87.30 seconds. Just behind them were Beezie Madden on new mount Via Volo, who finished in 87.51 seconds and Kent Farrington on Uceko in 87.66 seconds.
It was a good start for the U.S. riders, and it shows that the selection is deep to field the 15 horse-and-rider combinations that will comprise the long list for this year's WEG team.
Minikus agreed, "It's a good start. This is a long process and there is a lot of jumping that has to go on. It's a good confidence builder that all of your wheels are working together, and it's always a team effort. Things were organized and hopefully it stays together through the whole process. It's one class at a time, one jump at a time."
Earlier on Thursday afternoon, the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round Seven saw Yann Candele of Canada on Pitareusa, owned by Susan Grange, in the winner's circle. Katie Prudent of France and Sassicaia II finished second, while Carlos Lopez of Colombia aboard Penny Lane was third.
In the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup, there were 10 clear trips out of 56 entries. Going eighth out of 10 in the jump-off was Prudent on Sassicaia II, who took the lead with a clear round in 32.79 seconds. They would see that lead immediately disappear when Candele and Pitareusa entered the ring next and put down a very quick, clear trip in 32.41 seconds. Last in the jump-off, Lopez and Penny Lane were also clear and close to the win in 33.69 seconds, which finished third.
Candele was very pleased with his win because it was his first grand prix victory at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. "I've been second, third, whatever you want before, but it is extremely difficult here. It doesn't matter, any level, every jump-off is so fast," he explained. "Things need to go a little bit your way. I like the win; we all do!"
Show jumping competition continued on Friday in the International Arena at the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Darragh Kenny of Ireland and North Run's Perle JRF were victorious in the $6,000 Spy Coast 1.40m Speed Challenge over McLain Ward on Overlook Farm Inc.'s Miss Liberty 7 and Lauren Hough on Available Versace, owned by Chloe Reid, LLC.
There were 51 entries that attempted the course set by Brazil's Guilherme Jorge. There were 11 clear rounds over the speed course, but it was Kenny and Perle JRF, a 10-year-old Holsteiner mare (Larioni x Chamisso), who found the fastest track in 64.301 seconds, just tenths of a second faster than Ward and Miss Liberty 7, who finished in 64.516 seconds. Hough and Available Versace cleared the course in 70.908 seconds.
The victory was meaningful for Kenny. He explained, "It's the first time I've ever won in the main ring before at WEF. It was really nice! It was a big class, fairly fast, and it was nice to win something in there. It's not easy winning in that ring."
On Saturday morning, Marley Goodman continued her dominance in the High Amateur-Owner Jumpers. She and Ronja, owned by Goodman and Turtle Lane Farm, won the $15,000 Cavalor Show Jumping Hall of Fame (SJHOF) High Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic, which also secured the division championship for them. Goodman has won the division championship for the past three weeks. During week 5, she won with U-2; in week six she was victorious with Athos.
Last proved to be the best in Sunday's $25,000 Suncast 1.50m Classic at the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Peter Charles of Great Britain and Murka's Pom D'Ami, owned by Olga White, came home the fastest in a 12-horse jump-off to win over Jaime Azcarraga of Mexico on Celsius and Pessoa on Night Train, owned by Double H Farm.
As the last in the ring, Charles and Murka's Pom D'Ami, an 11-year-old SBS gelding by Bon Ami, took a quick pace to start, but it was their fantastic rollbacks that sealed their victory. Charles galloped down the final line to the last oxer and crossed the finish timers in 39.161 seconds for the win.
"He's a really nice gelding. He's been slow starting here. This is just his second week of jumping," Charles noted. "I thought I knocked the cobwebs off him today. We didn't have to go mad to win that. He did some really neat turns, and I let him really come on at the last fence. We did all the work and got it in the bag before then with the turns we made."
Hunter Highlights
Chris Payne of Cincinnati, OH, piloted Del Rio to the championship in the Equisport Agency Inc. 3' Pre Green Hunters. Del Rio is owned by the Black Rabbit Ranch, which is based out of Tulsa, OK. "He's very young and hasn't done a lot, but he has a great mind, and knows his job pretty well," Payne said of the four-year-old gelding. Just behind Del Rio with a total of 14 points was Jimmy Torano and Jessica Coppola's Gosford Park, who took home the reserve champion ribbon.
Boldness paid off for Katherine Schmidt of Ridgefield, CT, who garnered the coveted blue ribbon in Section A of the Platinum Performance USEF Show Jumping Talent Search. "My strategy was to be as bold as possible," Schmidt said of her performance.
Schmidt is currently a 17-year-old senior at Ridgefield High School, and must fly back and forth from Connecticut on weekends to compete at the FTI WEF. "It's a little hectic with school and all, but it seems to be working pretty well," Schmidt said with a smile. Her strategy proved to be working when she topped a field of 28 other riders.
Schmidt trains with Andre Dignelli of Heritage Farm, and Darren Graziano, and rode Heritage Farm's horse, Nimmerot, in the equitation. "He's just a really good boy. He's very honest and he'll jump anything. I'd like to thank Heritage Farm for letting me ride him," Schmidt said.
The Taylor Harris Insurance Services (THIS) Children's Medal 14 & Under kicked off the day in Ring 6 on Friday at the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Twnety-two competitors vied for the blue ribbon and a chance to help qualify for the THIS National Children's Medal Finals that will take place at the Capital Challenge Horse Show in October 2010.
Maggie Savoie received first-place honors aboard her horse Danico. The 14-year-old Massachusetts native is currently a freshman in high school at the Lincoln School for Girls in Providence, and she commutes to Florida on weekends to compete at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. "I get really tired, but this is what I do, and I don't do anything else, so it's worth it," Savoie explained of her busy travel schedule.
Savoie has owned Danico, a 12-year-year old Westphalian gelding, for about three years and credits him for much of her winnings. "It was definitely a team effort between the two of us. I couldn't have done it without him," she acknowledged. "If he wasn't underneath my leg when I asked him to move up or slow down, I wouldn't have gotten the distances that I did," she continued.
Ailish Cunniffe finished behind Savoie in second place. The third-place ribbon was awarded to Hannah Baumann, and the fourth-place honors went to Nikki Carr.
Children's Hunter action continued on Sunday at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Chelsea Huss and Aljano Jr., owned by CME Holdings, took home the top honors in the Children's Hunter 15-17, sponsored by Sentient Jet. The reserve championship in the Sentient Jet Children's Hunter 15-17 was awarded to Samantha Batt and Little Brook Farm, Inc's Sun King.
Huss and her partner, Aljano Jr., dominated the Sentient Jet Children's Hunter 15-17 division this weekend, winning every single class over fences, for a grand total of 40 points to secure the championship. Huss was very proud of her mount, and noted, "He's been really great. He's gotten so much better about his environment."
Huss found the seven-year-old Holsteiner gelding in Belgium, and imported him to America, where she rides with Kathy and Gerry Newman.
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