For Immediate Release
Kate Pettersen and Sabrina Brashares for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
Wellington, FL – March 18, 2021 – Eric Lamaze (CAN) and Chacco Kid, owned by the Chacco Kid Group, were back in fine form on Thursday, March 18, winning the $37,000 Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1.45m CSI3*, the feature class in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC).
Week 10 of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), sponsored by Horseware Ireland, runs through March 21 and will feature three-star competition in the International Arena. On Friday, competition will showcase the $20,000 Spy Coast Farm Developing Jumper Series 7 Year Old Classic, the $15,000 Spy Coast Farm Developing Jumper Series 6 Year Old Classic, the $10,000 Spy Coast Farm Developing Jumper Series 5 Year Old Classic, as well as the $37,000 Adequan® WEF Challenge Round 10. Saturday features the $37,000 CaptiveOne Advisors 1.50m Classic, and Sunday’s competition is highlighted by the $50,000 Hermès Under 25 Final as well as the $137,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix CSI3*. Feature classes are available free live and on-demand on the livestream.
The handiwork of course designer Michel Vaillancourt (CAN) was on display as 66 horse-and-rider combinations attempted the test consisting of 14 jumping obstacles. Lamaze, 19th to go in the starting order, answered all the questions of the 1.45m speed track to emerge victorious aboard the 15-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Chacco Blue x Come On, crossing the timers in a speedy 58.26 seconds to take the title.
“These types of classes are good for Chacco,” explained Lamaze. “He’s naturally fast so you don’t really feel like you’re actually pushing him to be fast. It’s just his natural way of going. He’s a very quick horse, and I like these classes to set up for the grand prix with him. It’s nice to get his lungs opened up a bit and give him a nice gallop around the ring.”
Lamaze, currently ranked twenty-third in the world, has recently returned from a few weeks of competition in Doha, Qatar, which included a third-place finish in the CSI5* grand prix. He left Chacco in the hands of his team in Wellington and is excited to close out the rest of WEF with the talented gelding.
“I returned here to some fresh horses,” said Lamaze. “We have a person that rides him on the flat that did a great job. He had jumped enough by that point [week 7], so he just needed to keep going while I was in Doha. My other horses stayed in Europe, so Chacco is going to be the leading horse until the Rolex Grand Prix [week 11]. I’m happy to be back. These types of classes are hard to win because people are sometimes trying to make their horse fast. I’m lucky that mine is naturally fast so I just follow the turns and shorten up a few things and very often he ends up being at the top of the class.”
The winning combination also picked up a victory in the same class on January 13 as part of WEF 1. Their success in the show ring is often in the speed format which is quite the opposite to the personality of the little horse outside the International Arena.
“He’s very quiet, very easy, and very different when he’s outside of the ring,” said Lamaze. “He looks high strung in the ring, but not so much in real life. He’s a little horse. He knows he needs rhythm and speed to jump these fences, so he kind of grows to that in the ring, and I’ve come to learn to go along with that.”
Olivia Chowdry (USA) and Chuck Berry 8, owned by Atlas Equine Holdings, LLC, finished just off the mark for a second-place finish. The 29-year-old rider piloted the 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding by Chacco Blue x Watzmann to a quick clear round in 58.84 seconds. Adrienne Sternlicht (USA) and the Starlight Farms 1, LLC entry Cadans Z, a 12-year-old Zangersheide mare by Carosso VDL x Navarone, rounded out the podium in third, stopping the clock at 59.53 seconds.
Earlier in the day, Lauren Fischer (USA) piloted her own GK California, an 11-year-old Hosteiner by Cosido, to a victory in the $6,000 Bainbridge Companies 1.40m Jumpers. The pair topped a field of 87 entries in the starting order, with a double-clear round in the two-phase format, crossing the finish line in a leading time of 31.72 seconds.
Full Results: $37,000 Douglas Elliman 1.45m CSI3*
1. CHACCO KID: 2006 Oldenburg by Chacco Blue x Come On
ERIC LAMAZE (CAN), Chacco Kid Group: 0/58.26
2. CHUCK BERRY 8: 2007 Hanoverian gelding by Chacco Blue x Watzmann
OLIVIA CHOWDRY (USA), Atlas Equine Holdings LLC: 0/58.84
3. CADANS Z: 2009 Zangersheide mare by Carosso VDL x Navarone
ADRIENNE STERNLICHT (USA), Starlight Farms 1, LLC: 0/59.53
4. CALYPSO DES MATIS: 2012 Selle Français gelding by Padock du Plessis*HN
EDUARDO MENEZES (BRA), Eduardo Menezes: 0/60.90
5. CARLCHEN W: 2008 German Warmblood gelding by Chacco-Blue x Continue
ALEX GRANATO (USA), Page Tredennick: 0/61.04
6. VOLO’S DIAMOND: 2011 Oldenburg gelding by Stakkatol x Baloubet Du Rouet
SHANE SWEETNAM (IRL), Triple S Group and Shane Sweetnam: 0/61.96
7. CARIOCA K: 2010 Holsteiner mare by Cosido x Carano
ANNA DRYDEN (USA), Double Meadows Farm, LLC: 0/63.18
8. BINGO STE HERMELLE: 2011 Selle Français stallion by Number One D’iso x Diamant De Semilly
DANIEL DEUSSER (GER), Stephex Stables: 0/64.61
9. GOODBYE: 2011 KWPN mare by Eldorado vd Zeshoek x Amulet
BLISS HEERS (USA), Bridgeside Farms, LLC: 0/65.07
10. CHAVERTO: 2011 Oldenburg gelding by Chacco-Blue x Converter
JUAN MANUEL GALLEGO (COL), Juan Pablo Betancourt: 0/66.30
11. CAZAAN: 2012 Holsteiner stallion by Casall x Clarimo
LILLIE KEENAN (USA), Chansonette Farm, LLC: 0/69.10
12. CHEESE W Z: 2008 Zangersheide gelding by Chatman x Galoubet A
KARINA FREDERIKS (CAN), Iron Horse Farm: 0/70.92
Sandra Ferrell Pilots Notorious to the Green Hunter 3’ Championship
The Green Hunter 3’ division, sponsored by Hygain Feeds, came to a close in FarmVet Ring 7 on Thursday morning. Sandra Ferrell, of Wellington, FL, and Stephanie Bulger’s Notorious bested a field of 27 competitive entries to earn the top prize. Ferrell and Notorious received three firsts, a second, and a fourth place ribbon for a total of 38 points in the division.
Notorious, a coming seven-year-old Westphalian mare by Ballous Bellini, began her already successful horse show career this season with Ferrell in the irons. After purchasing Notorious in December of 2019 from Gavin Moylan, Ferrell and owner Bulger decided to take their time with the mare and not rush her into the show ring, which obviously paid off.
“She had not done anything and did not have any hunter miles, so we planned on giving her most of the winter off last year and then starting her in the spring, but then everything shut down,” commented Ferrell. “We spent last summer just working with her and getting her strong and ‘hunterized.’ I think probably for a lot of horses, and her being one of them, [the COVID situation] was nice because we really got to take our time without the pressure of going to the show ring. She’s a very smart horse and really wants to please, so that makes my job easy.”
This championship marks the pair’s second tricolor in two weeks. This week, Ferrell piloted Notorious to win three over fences classes with a high score of 90 in the stake class.
“First of all, she’s beautiful; second of all, she’s a beautiful mover; third of all, she’s scopey; fourth of all, she jumps beautifully; and fifth of all, she does a perfect lead change,” explained Ferrell. “I think what is so attractive of her is how elegant she is cantering around the ring and then everything else just gets added into it. Obviously she has the ability to jump super big jumps, so we aren’t even scratching the surface of her jumping ability. I believe in the old saying that, ‘If you have a good mare, you have a great mare,’ and at this moment she has only ever shown us great things.”
Ferrell is very excited about the future with Notorious and has high hopes for the talented mare.
“We plan to take our time and do the [Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships] this year and indoors if it happens,” she said. “There’s no rush. She probably is ready to jump bigger jumps, but we are not really in any rush to worry about that. We will take our time and just have an even better horse next year.”
Scott Stewart, of Wellington, FL, and Stephanie Danhakl’s Austen took home the reserve champion ribbon in the Green Hunter 3’ division. Stewart piloted Austen to a first, three thirds, and an eighth place ribbon.
Jumper competition in the International Arena on Friday will feature the $20,000 Spy Coast Farm Developing Jumper Series 7 Year Old Classic, the $15,000 Spy Coast Farm Developing Jumper Series 6 Year Old Classic, the $10,000 Spy Coast Farm Developing Jumper Series 5 Year Old Classic, and the $37,000 Adequan® WEF Challenge Cup Round 10. The Hamel Foundation 3’3” NHS Medal will take place in Equine Tack and Nutritionals Ring 6.