Conor O’Regan’s goal (IRL) for the 2025 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) season was to slowly build Manchester up to a competitive level, but the Delshore Horses-owned gelding had other plans. The duo earned an early season win in the $32,000 Florida Coast Equipment CSI2* Qualifier on Friday of WEF 3 from an impressive field of 57 entries at Wellington International in Wellington, FL.
O’Regan piloted the 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Quidam de Revel x Codex) to one of 11 clear rounds over Peter Grant’s (CAN) course, and the top 12 returned to jump off in the winning round format on a clean slate.
“I think it helps that he’s a naturally fast horse; from my first round I had a pretty good advantage of going third to last, even though Jessica Springsteen and Jordan Coyle, who are both tremendously fast, were behind me,” said O’Regan. “I stuck to my plan and based my round off Wilton Porter’s—he went first and he did a great job. I knew my horse’s footspeed, and it’s a little better than [Wilton’s] so I tried to follow that plan and it paid off."
Springsteen (USA) came very close to catching O’Regan’s winning time of 39.53 seconds aboard Naomi Van Het Keizershof, owned by Stone Hill Farm. Ultimately, she stopped the timers five hundredths of a second off the pace to end up second. With less than a second separating the top three, Daisy Farish (USA) took third aboard Etonemoi del Cabalero, owned by Lanes End Showjumping, in a time of 40.18.
“I’ve had this horse for about two years,” O’Regan expanded on his relationship with Manchester. “It’s owned by Leslie Kopp’s Delshore Horses and I’m very grateful for the support she’s given me with this horse and other horses I have belonging to her.”
O’Regan has campaigned the horse up to the 1.55m level and knows he’s a very competitive ride, but was planning to take things slow this year. “This is his first week showing,” he continued. “I had a plan to slowly build him up here and have him be competitive over the summer but it’s come a little quicker than I expected. He’s naturally very fast and he has a big stride. When he’s with me, he’s always very quick and competitive.”
With no set plan for Manchester, aside from a guaranteed week off during WEF 4, O’Regan plans to see how the season goes and not push the horse too hard.
O’Regan had a special fan in his cheering section Friday, who brought him a little added luck. “My daughter, who is two and a half months old, this is her first day at the horse show,” he shared. “I’m going to have to make sure she comes back Sunday for the Grand Prix.”
Gotcha carried Simon McCarthy (IRL) to top call earlier Friday morning in the $32,000 Dodd Technologies CSI4* 1.50m. McCarthy and the mare, owned by Rock Ridge Farms, crossed the timers in 66.56 seconds. A full second behind them for second place was fellow Irishman Richard Howley with Mansini LTD, owned by HK Horses, and in third was McKayla Langmeier (USA) and Jiselle NS, owned by Linda Langmeier.
In the $6,000 Bainbridge Companies 1.40m Speed Challenge it was German Olympic Champion Christian Kukuk and Viki Van Gogh, owned by Beerbaum Stables GMBH, who took the win. They were followed by TJ O’Mara (USA) and Kaborough, owned by Eliza Kimball, in second and Thaisa Erwin (AUS) in third with Kalifa, owned by Michael Smith.
Show jumping throughout the weekend at Wellington International is highlighted by the $215,000 NetJets CSI4* Grand Prix under the glow of ‘Saturday Night Lights’. For complete WEF 3 results, click HERE.
Reilly Canard and Carry On Capture IDA Development Adult Amateur 18-35 Championship
Reilly Canard has been developing a partnership with Carry On, owned by Pamela Wright and Charlotte Rossetter, for roughly a year and their consistency proved a winning formula to take champion in the IDA Development Adult Amateur 18-35 division during the third week of the Winter Equestrian Festival.
“I started showing ‘Carry’ at the end of WEF last year,” Canard, of Philomont, VA, said of her partnership with the 15-year-old Holsteiner gelding. “I did a little bit of WEF and then I showed him through indoors last year. I just started showing him again in the Adults.”
Canard and Carry On won both classes on Thursday with consistent scores of 86 and 85, further proving their consistency as a pair and earning them the tricolor on Friday.
“He’s really good at his job,” Canard said of Carry On and what sets him apart. “He takes care of you. The best thing is just to stay out of his way and let him do his thing. He is a horse that gives you a lot of confidence when you walk in the ring. He’s a fun partner to have for sure.”
Sharing the ride with Carry On, Wright rides her own horse in the Rusty Stirrup division. “At the end of the day, he has a job with his owner, so to get into the adults is just to warm up and practice before he goes in for the weekend with his mom,” said Canard. “He loves that job and I’m grateful for them for sharing him with me. I try just to be focused and I don’t tend to get too nervous anymore. I try to have a clear mind and know what’s ahead in the course.”
When asked what her biggest goal is for the season, Canard noted, “I want to do the derby on the grass field,” Canard said. “I haven’t done that at WEF yet so that’s my biggest short-term goal for the season. That would be a bigger track for me; I’ve done national derbies before but I haven’t done a lot of bigger tracks on the grass so it would be fun to do that on him.”
For champion results from WEF 3, click HERE.
