Wellington, FL – February 5, 2011 – The women have dominated the Nespresso Battle of the Sexes for three years now with another exciting win in Saturday evening’s dynamic competition.  The women’s team, captained by Katie Prudent, and including riders Georgina Bloomberg, Ashlee Bond, Brianne Goutal, Lauren Hough, Maggie Jayne, Reed Kessler, Candice King, Laura Kraut, Christine McCrea, Catherine Pasmore, and Nicole Simpson, swept the three phase competition with 37 points over the men’s score of 25 to win their third title.

The evening’s attendance was approximately 6,500 people for the class at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Equestrian Sport Productions CEO Mark Bellissimo stated, “This was a great event and we’re very thankful to the riders and their owners for supporting this class with their time and their horses. Special classes like this really grow our spectator base, which is one of our biggest goals at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival.”

The fourth week of the FTI WEF, sponsored by Adequan, continues through Sunday, February 6. The highlight jumper class left this week is Sunday’s $78,000 Adequan CSI 2* Grand Prix at 2 p.m. The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of competition through April 3, 2011, and will be awarding more than $6 million in prize money through the circuit.

The first round of competition in tonight’s Nespresso Battle of the Sexes was the speed round, with a six to five win for the ladies. The men and women were tied up as the final competitors entered the ring, and Laura Kraut out jumped Nick Skelton by almost nine seconds to put the women on top.

Laura Kraut and Winde had the fastest times

Up next, the women won seven to four in the match races to bring the total to 13 points over nine. The final six-bar competition sealed the fate of the teams, with the women leading 24 to 16 to win over the men. 

Michelle McFaul, Vice-President, Community Affairs and Special Events of Nespresso, was thrilled with the outcome of tonight’s competition and teased, “It is a total privilege for Nespresso to sponsor this class for the third year in a row. I am just fearful that this is the last year because the boys will not show up again!”

The Men’s Team

The youngest rider in tonight’s Battle of the Sexes competition at 16 years old, Reed Kessler was competing in the class for the first time and also showed in her first six bar this evening. Kessler and her trusty horse Flight earned points in both the speed and match race phases, and she rode Ligist through three clear rounds in the six bar.

A very excited Kessler beamed after the class. “It was so fun. I watched it last year and all I could think was how much I wanted to be on the team. My biggest fear as it got closer was that if I lost a point I would let my entire gender down,” she laughed.

Both my horses were amazing,” she contined. “Flight is a total pro and Goose (Ligist) was awesome. I have never done a six bar and Goose has never done a six-bar. He got better and better and the last jump was literally over our heads. It was crazy!”

Also one of this evening’s youngest riders and showing in her first Nespresso Battle of the Sexes, 18-year-old Catherine Pasmore did extremely well. Pasmore earned a point in the speed round riding Nakano and then jumped clear through all four rounds in the six-bar aboard Vandavid to earn a special award for the most clear rounds. Pasmore’s trainer Laura Kraut had the fastest time overall in phases one and two and also won a special prize for her efforts.

The Women’s Team with ringmaster Cliff Haines, Michelle McFaul of Nespresso, and Mark and Katherine Bellissimo

“I was really nervous! I didn’t want to let all these important people down, but it was a lot of fun,” Pasmore said after the class. “I thought it would be a lot of pressure, but everybody was supporting each other.”

Pasmore explained that this was her horse Vandavid’s second time competing in a six-bar. “He did his first at the Holiday HorseFest, and he tied for the win. He’s so special and I love him,” she smiled. “I didn’t think they were going to put it up again, and then Laura said, ‘No, stay in!’ I thought she was crazy. I said I would give it a try and I cantered down to it. The second to last jump felt big enough to me, and then the last one was huge. It was over my head and it was over his head! I had my leg there, released, and he didn’t let me down. He jumped it easily; you wouldn’t even have known it was that big!”

Catherine Pasmore with family, Mark and Katherine Bellissimo, and ringmaster Cliff Haines

Earlier in the afternoon, the $25,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Classic hosted 41 horse and rider combinations, and it was Ashlee Bond of Hidden Hills, CA, who rode Little Valley Farm’s Chivas Z to victory. Riding over a Richard Jeffery designed course, four were able to stay clear and advance to the jump-off.

In the shortened course, Navona Gallegos and No Fear, owned by Bar X Ranch LLC, went first and stopped the timers in 42.445 seconds with eight faults for fourth place. Rodrigo Pessoa and Champ 163, owned by Legacy Stables LLC, had four faults in the double combination. With a time of 38.691 seconds, they finished in third place.

Pablo Barrios and G&C Flash, owned by G&C Farm, set the first double clear round. They had a more conservative time in order to leave all the jumps up, in 41.455 seconds.

Knowing she needed to stay clear but beat Barrios’ time, Ashlee Bond put Chivas Z at a “medium-fast pace” and clocked around the jump-off with no faults in 39.393 seconds for the win.

Bond and Chivas Z have been consistently clear in major classes this circuit, but this is Bond’s first win in the “big ring” at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. “I think honestly I haven’t been doing well in the jump-offs. I’ve been going a little bit too crazy. I’ve been early in the jump-offs and there is Nick Skelton, McLain, Rodrigo, everyone behind me. I love to win and I put so much pressure on myself,” she explained.

For today’s jump-off, she stuck to her plan. “I knew that the first two had a rail, and I knew that Pablo went conservative. He went for the nice clear. I felt fairly good. You can always have a rail so easily, but speed wise I could go medium-fast, put in a positive round for my horse, and not go crazy, and try and go for the win. It worked out today,” she agreed. “It feels great!”

Ashlee Bond and Chivas Z

The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival will conclude tomorrow with $78,000 Adequan Grand Prix, CSI 2* in the International Arena at 2 p.m.

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

Final Results: $25,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Classic
1   CHIVAS Z        ASHLEE BOND        LITTLE VALLEY FARM: 0/0/39.393
2   G&C FLASH       PABLO BARRIOS    G&C FARM: 0/0/41.455
3   CHAMP 163       RODRIGO PESSOA    LEGACY STABLES LLC: 0/4/38.691
4   NO FEAR         NAVONA GALLEGOS    BAR X RANCH LLC: 0/8/42.445
5   DANTE           LUIS ALEJANDRO PLASENCIA LUIS ALEJANDRO PLASENCIA: 1/79.108                   
6   METROPOLITAN    VICTOR AMAYA    GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES: 4/71.560                   
7   KATINA          ENRIQUE GONZALEZ    ENRIQUE GONZALEZ: 4/71.630                   
8   OBELIX 148      ENRIQUE GONZALEZ    ENRIQUE GONZALEZ: 4/72.731                   
9   ANTARES F       MCLAIN WARD        GRANT ROAD PARTNERS: 4/74.040                   
10  PITAREUSA       YANN CANDELE    SUSAN GRANGE: 4/74.092                   
11  VANCOUVER       KATHERINE DINAN    KATIE DINAN LLC: 4/74.615                   
12 APACHE          ASHLEE BOND        LITTLE VALLEY FARM: 4/75.438

Final Results: Nespresso Battle of the Sexes
Women: 37 points
Chef d’Equipe – Katie Prudent
Maggie Jayne
Catherine Pasmore
Georgina Bloomberg
Candice King
Reed Kessler
Christine McCrea
Ashlee Bond
Brianne Goutal
Nicole Simpson
Lauren Hough
Laura Kraut

Men: 25 points
Chef d’Equipe – Henri Prudent
Daniel Bluman
Ben Meredith
Shane Sweetnam
Nick Dello Joio
Enrique Gonzalez
Jonathan McCrea
Ben Maher
Paul O’Shea
Will Simpson
Aaron Vale
Nick Skelton

Photo Credit: The women won the Nespresso Battle of the Sexes for the third year in a row. Ashlee Bond and Chivas Z were victorious in the $25,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Classic during week 4 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.