The $10,000 Bainbridge Companies Stake got underway Thursday, kicking off the day’s highlight competition for Holiday III. Thirty horse-and-rider pairs tried their hand at Hector Loyola’s (PUR) course, with seventeen advancing to the shortened course. In the end, Lucy Matz (USA) put in the quickest double-clear ride aboard Dorothy Matz’s, Fyolieta, with a time of 33.473 seconds. Earning second with a clear 34.296 time was Andrea Torres (COL) and the Santa Catalina farm-owned, Picara Polka Amouretta, while Delaney Flynn (USA) and My Lady Carthago, owned by Windsor Show Stables, rounded out the podium with a clear 34.831 second time.
Thursday also featured the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, presented by Open Minds Academy, taking place in Ring 7. Eleven riders competed in the National Hunter Derby, designed by Thomas Carlson (USA), with Victoria Colvin (USA) and the J T Farm-owned, Gabriel, finishing at the top of the scoreboard.
Colvin and her mount, Gabriel, earned the leading title with a score of 176, a half-second faster than the runner up. Meghan Knapic (USA) and First Blue LLC’s, Blue Icon, earned the red rosette with a close 175.5 score. Jennifer Bliss (USA) bookend the podium with a score of 173 aboard Sugarman, owned by Harris Hill Farm LLC.
The final highlight event of the week, the $25,000 ProElite Holiday III Grand Prix, took place in the International Arena late Saturday morning. With only four out of the twenty-nine competitors advancing to the jump-off, riders gave it their all - slicing and dicing their way through Hector Loyola’s second test. Pulling out all of the stops and emerging victorious was USA’s Molly Ashe Cawley and Loukas De La Noue, owned by Oakridge Farm. The duo put forth the quickest clear time, stopping the timers at 36.325 seconds.
Raving about Loukas De La Noue’s performance, Cawley explained, “I only started riding him last year and then I had back surgery in August. He’s done nothing since the first week of August and has just been waiting to get going again. This was his first class back and he was amazing. He’s always amazing.”
Paul O’Shea (IRL) claimed the second-place title, securing his spot on the leaderboard with a clear 37.706 time aboard Spy, owned by Eye Candy Jumpers, while Catherine Wachtell (USA) rounded out the podium aboard Morgana V/D Brouwershoeve, owned by Autumn View Farm, with a four-fault time of 41.529 seconds.
Join us December 27th for New Years Equitation and December 28th - 31st for the ESP Holiday Finale. Last week of the Holiday Series before the 2024 Winter Equestrian Festival gets underway with the WEF Premiere Week. Starting January 3rd and running through March 31st, Wellington International’s prestigious Winter Equestrian Festival will be taking place with plenty of action and entertainment for the whole family! Visit HERE for the prize list and full schedule of the 2024 season, featuring 13 weeks of high-stakes competition.
