Starting the week on a high note for the home stretch of Wellington International’s Annual Series was the $10,000 1.40m Bainbridge Companies Welcome. Designing for the International Ring throughout the week, American course designer, Anthony D’Ambrosio, challenged the riders to a thirteen-jump round, followed by a six-jump jump-off. Eleven riders cleared round one, advancing them straight to round two. Brazil’s Joao Carvalho was sixth to go in the shortened course, giving him time to study the riders before him. Carvalho and Evergreen Stables LLC’s, And Action, completed the jump-off fault-free with a time of 36.224 seconds. Securing the red-rosette was Alvaro Tejada (GUA) aboard One Eleven 111, owned by Andrea Muller, with a clear 38.087 time, while Nikko Ritter (USA) and the Wendy Peralta-owned, Kandle, secured the third-place title with a time of 39.459.
Hunter competition took center stage Friday afternoon with the $5,000 National Hunter Derby presented by Perfect Products, taking place in Ring 7. USA’s Geoffrey Hesslink beat out competition with Sandstone, owned by Sara Hogan, producing scores of 88 and 91 for a combined score of 179 to take the victory.
Securing the second-place ribbon was USA’s Lainie Wimberly, who held the lead for a majority of the class. Wimberly produced scores of 85 and 90 for a combined 175, but ultimately dropped a position after Hesslink produced a flawless round as last to enter the ring. Completing the podium was USA’s Augusta Iwasaki and Small Safari, owned by Iwasaki & Reilly, with a combined score of 174.5.
Saturday morning the International Ring became the pinnacle of competition with the $5,000 1.35m Pilates Rocks Open Stake. Coming out on top among the fifteen athletes to test the field was USA’s Abigail McArdle and I&H Boogy Woogy. McArdle and her mount, owned by Samuel Parot Jr., pulled out all the stops to seal the deal with a clear time of 36.245 seconds. Right on her heels was Taylor Land (USA) with a time of 36.438 seconds, securing the second-place title with Falco V, owned by Pinetree Farms Inc. USA’s Alexis Bodo took home the yellow-ribbon aboard her own entry, Select’s London Calling Old, with a time of 38.685 seconds.
Closing out competition on Saturday was the $1,000 Score At The Top 2'6" - 2'9" Hunter Derby. The class was held in a “Hunt and Go” format, meaning the first portion of the course was judged as the classic round, while the latter half of the trip was scored as the handy phase. Setting the standard for riders to follow was USA’s Serena Theodoracopulos. Theodoracopulos earned an 87 in the classic phase and an 84 in the handy for a combined winning-score of 171 aboard Permission, owned by Cathy Sacher. Settling into the second position on the scoreboard was Lila Dubin (USA) and her own, Always Blue, with a classic score of 83 and a handy phase of 82 for a combined score of 165 while Tania Brooksby (USA) rounded out the podium with a total score of 164 with her own entry, Orlandino.
Alex Granato (USA) had the need for speed in the $50,000 Arion Sellier USA Grand Prix Sunday morning during the last week of the Annual Series. Granato stole the win on Helios VD Nosahoeve, owned by Kisma Equestrian, LLC., besting the field of thirty horse-and-rider athletes.
“I went quite early in the first round so I really just wanted to stick to my plan,” explained Granato. “I didn’t really have anyone to watch with going fourth; I was busy warming up. In the jump-off I just really wanted to start with a strong pace. We walked that serpentine 1 to 2 to 3 so I had a good idea on the numbers I wanted to do. He’s quite a big strided horse so I wanted to start off strong so that I could leave a step out in those first two turns and then I could just keep that level pace for the rest of the round.”
Kalvin Dobbs (USA) and Callagan, owned by Treesdale Farms, gave it a respectable effort, crossing the timers in a speedy time of 47.624 seconds. The pair had an unfortunate rail, making them the quickest 4-fault duo, settling them into the second-place position. Finishing third was USA’s Gwyneth Babington and Conbago, owned by Equi-Sport LLC., with a four-fault time of 48.082 seconds.
The Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) is officially back! Starting next week on January 2nd, the 2024 Winter Equestrian Festival gets underway with WEF Premiere on Tuesday, January 2nd and goes through Sunday, January 7th. Highlight classes for the week include the $6,000 Bainbridge Companies 1.40m Open Jumper, $35,000 Adequan WEF Challenge Cup Premiere Round, $25,000 USHJA 2* International Hunter Derby, presented by Mars Equestrian, $15,000 SJHOF 1.45m Amateur Jumper Classic, sponsored by Lugano Diamonds, $25,000 Hermes 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic, $75,000 Battle of the Sexes and the $75,000 Prestige Italia Grand Prix. For the full 2024 WEF schedule and 2024 WEF prize list, click HERE.
