Margie Engle & Royce Ph. Kaitlyn Karssen for NF.com
Winter Equestrian Festival CSI5*-Week 12 (Florida, USA)
The sun has set on the 2018 Winter Equestrian Festival with several big winners emerging during the final week.
- Ask Margie Engle what favorite birthday has been, and she’ll tell you her 60th last Saturday, when she won the $500,000 CSI5* Rolex Grand Prix aboard her veteran tour-de-force horse, Royce.
- #DidYouKnow Royce had only shown three weeks at this year’s winter circuit in Florida? Engle unfortunately caught mononucleosis during week 7 and as a result, let her top horse enjoy a long break as she recovered.
- McLain Ward couldn’t close out the winter circuit without one last win. Ward took home both first and second placings in Sunday’s $50,000 CP 1.50m National Grand Prix winning with Sagamore Farms’ Clinta and runner-up aboard Bellefleur PS Z.
#DidYouKnow Clinta only joined Ward’s stables one week ago? He noticed her talent straight-away after seeing her for the first time last July in Aachen. “She is the most careful horse I have ever sat on,” Ward commented. “I think this is one to be a one-two punch with Azur. You can see it in the way she jumps; it doesn’t look real.”
- Colombia’s Elisa Uribe earned the final grand prix victory of the 2018 WEF season, in the $50,000 CSI2* The Wanderers Club Grand Prix with the 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare Havana de la Lande. Not bad for your first time competing in Wellington. Congratulations Elisa!
- Young U.S. rider Lucy Deslauriers laid down one impressive comeback after being sidelined by shoulder and hand surgery for the last two months. Her longtime partner Hester helped her clinch the biggest victory of her career winning Thursday’s $132,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup Round 12 .
- Brazilian Olympian José Roberto Reynoso had two wins in one day, winning both Wednesday’s $1,000 Bainbridge 1.40m CSI5* and the $35,000 Douglas Elliman 1.45m CSI5*.
CSI3* Highlights
The last week of March featured multiple top CSI3*s on the international calendar and the grand prix results caught our attention.
Mediterranean Equestrian Tour- Spring III (Oliva Nova, Spain)
- Last to go in a 12 horse jump-off, South Africa’s Oliver Lazarus captured the final Grand Prix of Spring MET III with Campino 344. This was only Lazarus’ fourth show with Campino, who was originally campaigned by Lazarus’ fiancee Georgie Harvey. Needless to say he was very happy with the result and the conclusion to his first time competing in Oliva.
Bonheiden-Spring Tour (Bonheiden, Belgium)
- #DoubleD strikes again! Germany’s Daniel Deusser and his 8-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare Killer Queen Vdm were the fastest of the five double clear pairs in Sunday’s CSI3* Grand Prix. Killer Queen Vdm is a mount that Deusser has had since May of 2017 with multiple wins in Valkenswaard and Treffen in the CSIYH1* (incl. 8yo) and CSI2* divisions.
Vilamoura-Atlantic Tour (Vilamoura, Portugal)
- Sunday’s Vilamoura Grand Prix was the ultimate show down. Only two riders advanced to the jump-off: Sweden’s Irma Karlsson and France’s Morgan Bordat. Karlsson and the 10-year-old gelding Chacconu clocked the fastest time in 49.03 seconds—0.6 seconds ahead of Bordat.
Blenheim (California, USA)
- The USA’s Keri Potter rode the 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding Bitalica to top honors in the $80,000 CSI3* Gold Tour Grand Prix at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano, California.The level of West Coast show jumping is raising its game and Potter agrees. “The FEI classes have been a big step up for California,” she spoke after her win. “It raises the horses and riders to a certain level that we should be at in order to compete with the rest of the world.”
Arezzo (Arezzo, Italy)
- The CSI3* Arezzo Grand Prix had 21 of the original 59 combinations qualify for the jump-off. Turkey’s Derin Demirsoy outrode his 20 second-round competitors and would set an unbeatable time of 41.60 seconds with the Belgian Warmblood gelding, Dadjak Ter Puttenen for the win.
In Other Noteworthy News
- After three months out of the saddle due to multiple arm fractures from a serious fall at the Longines World Cup Grand Prix of Mechelen with Chacon on December 30th , Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum made his comeback to competition this past week at the Z Tour of CSI2*Lanaken. No rust to clean here – Beerbaum posted multiple clear rounds in 1.30-1.40m classes with top mounts Chiara 222 and Cool Down 7. Welcome back Ludger!