Wellington, FL – February 25, 2010 – The USEF World Equestrian Games Trials, presented by Fidelity Investments, began today 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 $40,000 USEF WEG 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. Earlier in the afternoon, the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round Seven saw Yann Candele (CAN) on Pitareusa, owned by Susan Grange, in the winner’s circle. Katie Prudent (FRA) and Sassicaia II finished second, while Carlos Lopez (COL) aboard Penny Lane was third.
The seventh week of the FTI WEF is sponsored by Fidelity Investments and runs through Sunday, February 28. A crowd of nearly 2,500 spectators came to watch the start of the USEF WEG Trials, presented by Fidelity Investments. This week hosts very exciting competition, and the second trial for the USEF World Equestrian Games (WEG) Show Jumping team will be incorporated into the $75,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix, CSI 2* on Saturday, February 27, at 7 p.m.
The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of competition that conclude on April 4, 2010, and they will be awarding almost $6 million in prize money through the circuit.
Guilherme Jorge of Brazil designs the courses in the International Arena this week. 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 by Lancelot xx 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.
Engle is riding a younger horse that just moved up to the grand prix level last summer. “She felt great. She’s new to this. I was very pleased with how she went,” she said. “She seemed pretty relaxed and surprisingly went very nicely. She’s very scopey; she just doesn’t have that much mileage at this point.”
Fellers, who traveled from showing in California to compete at the FTI WEF for the trials, was relieved that he started well. “That gets the monkey off your back. It’s a long trip and a huge effort for us to come here. It’s a great way to start,” he admitted.
It has been seven years since Fellers last showed in Wellington, but he is enjoying his time in Florida. “The facility is great. It’s changed a lot over the years. I think it’s a top-class event,” he remarked.
Fellers and Flexible have had top international finishes, including second place in the 2008 FEI World Cup Finals in Gothenburg. Fellers said of Flexible, “He’s been amazing from the beginning. He felt really good out there tonight. If I get him there halfway close, he tries his guts out.”
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.”
He said of his horse with a smile, “I think he knew it was game time.”
For the current trial standings, only the scores count towards their cumulative score. The 13 clear rounds are all tied for first place in this early point.
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 today 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!”
Candele hopes to compete for Team Canada in next week’s FEI Nations Cup, presented by CN, and will also try to join the team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. He said, “At this moment, she’s my best horse. She is a really a trier. She’s very careful and she’s extremely fast. Now she’s been developing here and been very consistent. She’s always had good results with whoever rode her. It was a little bit inconsistent and now it’s getting better with age. You always question the scope until they do it. Today she was very comfortable.”
For the jump-off, Candele had help from his friend, Olympic gold medalist Eric Lamaze, for a plan. “Eric told me there was one place where everybody was losing a little bit of time. He told me to make sure I don’t miss the turn at the end. He said when they were coming home, they were holding back a little bit, I should just keep going and the oxer will jump well. I tried to follow that. I like when it goes my way like that,” he smiled.
Tomorrow’s action will continue with the Spy Coast 1.40m Speed Challenge in the International Arena. The $40,000 USEF World Equestrian Games (WEG) Trial Class # 2 will be incorporated into the $75,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix, CSI 2* on Saturday, February 27, at 7 p.m.
Tonight’s USEF WEG Trial 1 will be available for viewing in South Florida on WHDT Channel 17 (Comcast), channel 44 (Direct TV), and channel 1044 (AT&T) on Saturday, February 26, at 8 p.m.
For full results and more information, please visit www.shownet.biz or www.equestriansport.com.
Final Results: $40,000 USEF WEG Trial 1
1. PAVAROTTI: 1997 KWPN gelding by Lancelot xx Renville
TODD MINIKUS (USA), TODD MINIKUS: 0/83.240
2. HIDDEN CREEK’S CAMPELLA: 2000 SWED mare by Grey Cardento xx Stanford 687 MARGIE ENGLE (USA), HIDDEN CREEK FARM INC.: 0/84.030
3. FLEXIBLE: 1996 ISH stallion by Cruising xx Unknown
RICHARD FELLERS (USA), HARRY AND MOLLY CHAPMAN: 0/87.300
4. VIA VOLO: 1998 BWP mare
BEEZIE MADDEN (USA), CORAL REEF RANCH LLC: 0/87.51
5. UCEKO: 2001 KWPN gelding by Grey Celano xx Koriander
KENT FARRINGTON (USA), RCG FARM: 0/87.660
6. QUICK STUDY: 1999 SELLE gelding by Quick Star xx What A Joy
LAUREN HOUGH (USA), LAURA MATEO: 0/87.910
7. METROPOLITAN: 2000 SELLE stallion by Cabdula Du Tillard xx Laudanum
GEORGINA BLOOMBERG (USA), GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES: 0/88.170
8. CEDRIC: 1998 KWPN gelding by Unknown xx Unknown
LAURA KRAUT (USA), HAPPY HILL FARM: 0/88.540
9. RALVESTHER: 1998 KWPN mare by Calvaro xx Zevenster
BRIANNE GOUTAL (USA), CLOVERLEAF FARM: 0/88.870
10. QUINCY B: 1996 HOLST gelding by Quidam de Revel xx Lagos
HILLARY DOBBS (USA), HILLARY DOBBS: 0/89.280
11. FIEDI 3: 1998 HAN gelding by Graf Top xx Palisander
GEORGINA BLOOMBERG (USA), GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES: 0/90.840
12. TRISTAN: 2000 KWPN gelding by Lancelot xx Ferro
NICOLE SHANINIAN-SIMPSON (USA), ILAN FEDERER: 0/91.160
Final Results: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round Seven
1. PITAREUSA: 1997 KWPN mare by Andiamo xx Legaat
YANN CANDELE (CAN), SUSAN GRANGE: 0/0/32.41
2. SASSICAIA II: 1996 KWPN mare by Kojak xx Boreas
KATHERINE MONAHAN PRUDENT (FRA), PLAIN BAY FARM: 0/0/32.79
3. PENNY LANE
CARLOS LOPEZ (COL), CARLOS LOPEZ: 0/0/33.69
4. PRESLEY BOY: 1997 KWPN by Concorde xx Damiro
JAIME AZCARRAGA (MEX), JAIME AZCARRAGA: 0/0/33.87
5. APACHE: 1999 Selle Francais gelding by Mescalaro
ASHLEE BOND (USA), LITTLE VALLEY FARM: 0/0/33.87
6. MIKA: 2000 Selle Francais mare by Nidor Platiere xx Etoile
REED KESSLER (USA), REED KESSLER: 0/0/34.12
7. RADIO CITY: 2001 Holsteiner by mare by Liatos xx Carthago
GEORGINA BLOOMBERG (USA), GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES: 0/4/34.71
8. CELSIUS: 1999 Holsteiner stallion by Carthago xx Peter Pan
JAIME AZCARRAGA (MEX), JAIME AZCARRAGA: 0/4/34.90
9. PARISKA 2: 1997 KWPN mare by Almox Prints J xx Ezoliet
RICHARD SPOONER (USA), C&S PARTNERSHIP LLC: 0/8/33.51
10. CANTERO Z: 1999 Zangerscheide gelding by Cumano xx Primo des Bruyers
BETH UNDERHILL (CAN), IRON HORSE FARM: 0/EL
11. PHILLIPA: 1998 SWB mare by Electro xx Stanford
MCLAIN WARD (USA), SAGAMORE FARMS: 4/76.03
12. NIGHT TRAIN: 1999 Zangerscheide gelding by Calvaro Z xx Papillon Rouge
RODRIGO PESSOA (BRA), DOUBLE H FARM: 4/77.37
The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of top competition running from January 13 through April 4. WEF is run by Equestrian Sport Productions, LLC, and Wellington Equestrian Partners and held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. All 12 shows are “AA” rated and Jumper Rated 6, and more than $5.5 million in prize money will be awarded.
WEF is proud to be supported by their title sponsor, FTI Consulting, Inc. FTI Consulting, Inc. exists to help companies and their stakeholders protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex economic, legal and regulatory environment. FTI is the trusted advisor entrenched in many of the game-changing events that make headlines, move markets and create business history. For more information, please visit www.fticonsulting.com.
During the 12 weeks of WEF, “Saturday Night Lights” headlines the entertainment each Saturday night where spectators not only enjoy the Grand Prix class, but a street carnival, live music, and numerous dining options with box seats, sports bars, and the famed Tiki Hut for front row fun.
Please visit www.equestriansport.com or call 561-793-5867 for more information.