Wellington, FL – March 23, 2011 – The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival is drawing to a close in it’s eleventh of 12 weeks of competition. The first class in the International Arena on Wednesday morning was the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Jumpers, and it was Kevin Babington (IRL) on Udiana, owned by Chloe Wormser, who came away with victory as the only double clear.



Week 11 of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival is sponsored by FTI Consulting Inc., will begin on Wednesday, March 23. The week’s feature events will include the $31,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 11 on Thursday afternoon, the final Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic on Sunday at 2:30 p.m., and the feature event of the circuit, the $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix on Saturday. Gates open at 6 p.m. The event will also be webcast live on the USEF Network, seen here: http://www.usefnetwork.com/FTIGrandPrix2011/ .

Guilherme Jorge of Brazil is the course designer in the International Arena this week. There were 11 clear rounds out of 31 starters, but Babington and Udiana were the only ones able to stay clear in the jump-off. They finished in a time of 38.305 seconds. Laura Kraut (USA) and Dona Evita, owned by the Evita Group, had four faults in 36.381 seconds for second place. Third place went to Nick Skelton (GBR) and Caetano, owned by Monarch International. They had four faults in 36.428 seconds.

Babington felt that there were two parts to the course today that helped him win. “Today was very rideable and she’s extremely brave. She listened very well. (The course) wasn’t overly big, but a little bit of a tricky course. I had another horse and we had 4 a-b, a vertical to oxer, down and a lot had the in down or the front rail of the out. She jumped that double great both rounds. That was key to jumping a clean round. The last jump in the first round caught a lot of horses, and it was also the last jump in the jump-off, a square oxer with a long approach. She jumped those two difficult parts very, very well. She was clear, but she was also very fast.”

Kevin Babington and Udiana

Babington has only been riding Udiana, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by Hamlet x Maykel, since the beginning of circuit. This was their first 1.45m class together. Udiana’s owner, Chloe Wormser, trains with Donald Cheska and has kept horses with Babington at his farm in Pennsylvania while she attends the University of Pennsylvania. Udiana is now for sale, and Babington believes she would be a “great High Amateur or first grand prix horse for someone.”

He described, “She’s a very, very talented horse. She has super technique. She’s a blood horse and is keen to the jumps. She jumps as much as she needs to jump; you never feel like you’re working or stretching to make the back rail. She’s very clever and a winner.”

Kevin Babington with ringmaster Cliff Haines and Luis Miguel Martinez of G&C Farm

This is not Babington’s first time in the winner’s circle this season in the 1.45m Jumpers. He has also won with Mark Q, a nine-year-old, plus he has two young horses moving up to that level.
The eleventh week of competition will continue tomorrow with the $31,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 11 as the highlight class of the day in the International Arena at 1:00 p.m.



For full results please visit www.showgroundslive.com  and for more information, visit www.equestriansport.com .



Final Results: $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m
 Jumpers
1   UDIANA          KEVIN BABINGTON   IRL    CHLOE WORMSER: 0/0/38.305
2   DONA EVITA    LAURA KRAUT         USA    EVITA GROUP: 0/4/36.381
3   CAETANO        NICK SKELTON        GBR    MONARCH INTERNATIONAL: 0/4/36.428
4   SCARFACE       NICHOLAS DELLO JOIO USA      TONY WEIGHT: 0/4/38.267
5   STARLIGHT      KATE LEVY             USA         KATE LEVY: 0/4/39.614
6   IN STYLE         IAN MILLAR            CAN    SUSAN GRANGE & LOTHLORIEN FARM: 0//4/44.676
7   CANDLELIGHT VAN DE WARANDE NICOLE SHAHINIAN-SIMPSON USA BG REITANAGE REWIDE R. KUNCH: 0/8/39.503
8   MANNEKEN DU COTY CHARLIE JAYNE     USA PONY LANE FARM: 0/8/39.946
9   WILSON          JAVIER SALVADOR ESP        JAVIER SALVADOR: 0/8/42.566
10  CONCETTO BOY    PATRICIA KOLLER SUI       PATRICIA KOLLER: 0/8/47.044
11  QUELQU’UN DE LA MUSARDIERE BETH UNDERHILL CAN CHRISTOPHER CULLEN: 0/29/64.778
12  IMOTHEP HS      CANDICE KING      USA        HYPERION STUD LLC: 1/74.325

Photo Credit: Kevin Babington and Udiana won the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m during week 11 at the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Photo © Sportfot, Official Sport Photographer of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, www.sportfot.com .  This photo may be used free of charge only in relation to this press release. For high resolution images, please send a request to info@jenniferwoodmedia.com .

The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of top competition running from January 12 through April 3. 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 $6 million in prize money will be awarded.

WEF is proud to be supported by their title sponsor, FTI Consulting, Inc. FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and economic environment. With more than 3,600 employees located in most major business centers in the world, they work closely with clients every day to anticipate, illuminate, and overcome complex business challenges in areas such as investigations, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues, reputation management and restructuring. For more information, please visit www.fticonsulting.com .

Please visit www.equestriansport.com  or call 561-793-5867 for more information.