FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jennifer Wood for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
Wellington, FL – January 15, 2010 – Victory returned to Pablo Barrios of Venezuela for the second time this week when he was the fastest in the $6,000 Spy Coast 1.40m Speed Challenge on G&C Lisa, owned by Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal of Wellington, FL.
The first week of the FTI WEF is sponsored by G&C Farm and runs through Sunday, January 17. 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.
Germany’s Olaf Petersen designed a course with 12 numbered obstacles, including a final line that ended in a short five strides to a vertical. There were eight clear rounds over the course out of 24 entries in the class. The early leader was Olympic gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) on Palouchin de Ligny, who set the first clear round in a time of 66.472 seconds.
The lead quickly changed hands however, when Sean Crooks and Glen Youell’s Cincinatti La Silla stepped into the ring. They blazed around the course and took more than a second off of Pessoa’s time in 65.017 seconds to move to the top of the leaderboard.
Laura Chapot and Chili Pepper made a good bid for the winning time, but they finished just off the pace with a clear round in 65.705 seconds.
Following Chapot was the eventual class winner, Pablo Barrios (VEN) on G&C Lisa. They blazed through the course and brought the winning time down to 64.802 seconds with no faults.
This is Barrios’ second win this week; he finished one-two in the opening day 1.40m class as well. Barrios and G&C Lisa have started their relationship on a strong note, after a third place finish in the 1.35m Jumpers on Wednesday and the win today. The Mirabals purchased G&C Lisa only a few months ago, and Barrios is still getting to know the 10-year-old Selle Francais mare.
“She’s a new mare for me. Coming from Europe, she spent three weeks in quarantine,” Barrios explained. “This is my first horse show with her. I’m thinking she might do the speed derby on Sunday because she is very fast. She did great in her first time on this field. I’m very pleased with her.”
Barrios went earlier in the class with G&C Luky, but had an unfortunate rail. However, Barrios’ time with Luky was not too far off of the current leader, so he knew what kind of pace he would have to carry with Lisa in order to win. “I knew I would have to go a little faster than what I did with my first horse,” he said.
With Lisa’s quick pace, Barrios was able to cut two-tenths of a second off the winning time for victory. “I was very even everywhere. The mare helped a lot because she’s very careful,” Barrios commented. “She’s that kind of horse where you can run but they still back up and stay careful all the way to the end of the course. That’s very helpful for these kinds of classes because they never get flat. They’re always jumping round until the end.”
Barrios has high hopes for his up-and-coming speed horse for the rest of the season. He said, “I’m hoping in a short time on Sunday to be in the top three in the derby and later in the season, I’ll try to move her up a little bit and see if she can do bigger stuff.”
Tomorrow’s jumper action continues in the International Arena with the $25,000 Suncast 1.50m Classic at 1 p.m., while the highlight class of the week, the $25,000 G&C Farm Speed Derby, will run at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
For full results, please visit www.showbiz.net or www.equestriansport.com.
Final Results: $6,000 Spy Coast 1.40m Speed Challenge
1. G&C LISA, PABLO BARRIOS, GUSTAVO & CAROLINA MIRABAL: 0/64.802
2. CINCINATTI LA SILLA, SEAN CROOKS, GLEN YOUELL: 0/65.017
3. CHILI PEPPER, LAURA CHAPOT, LAURA CHAPOT: 0/65.705
4. PALOUCHIN DE LIGNY, RODRIGO PESSOA, PESSOA STABLES: 0/66.472
5. AZZARO, YANN CANDELE, SUSAN GRANGE: 0/68.941
6. GREEN SLEEPS VIOCO, ALI NILFORUSHAN, ALI NILFORUSHAN: 0/69.269
7. LITTLE EMIR, SHANE SWEETNAM, SPY COAST FARM LLC: 0/71.732
8. VICTOR III, SHANE SWEETNAM, SPY COAST FARM LLC: 0/72.118
9. BLUE SKY VAN DE OLMENHOEVE, MARLEY GOODMAN, MARLEY GOODMAN & TURTLE LANE FARM: 2/84.035
10. CORDIA DE LAUBRY, MARILYN LITTLE-MEREDITH, RAYLYN FARMS LLC: 4/63.107
11. G&C LUKY, PABLO BARRIOS, GUSTAVO & CAROLINA MIRABAL: 4/65.714 12. CENTURION, CORTIE WETHERILL, CORTIE WETHERILL: 4/68.055
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.