Strong equestrian year nears end
The arrival of spring means the Winter Equestrian Festival will soon be coming to an end for the year.
But there is still a final weekend of events at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center and a couple more weeks at the International Polo Club before many of the seasonal residents pack up their horses and head out of town.
In many ways it was a historic year for the sport locally.
This was the first year that Wellington Equestrian Partners CEO Mark Bellissimo was in control of all three of Wellington’s major equestrian venues.
Gladiator Polo debuted for a short, trial season and it was wildly successful, prompting Bellissimo and his team to expand the season. The smaller, edgier ver- Matt Morgan sion of the Sport of Kings has another game Thursday at 7 p.m. with a final set for April 8. The plan is to have a full season next year with with 12 weeks and eight teams. Bellissimo envisions a league with team owners, a prize draft and prize money of more than $500,000.
It was also a big year for philanthropy.
The Great Charity Challenge raised more than $1.5 million for Palm Beach County charities and passed the $10 million mark for the eight-year history of the event. It is rapidly becoming one of Wellington’s most well-known and anticipated charity events of the year.
All of the success follows speculation that Bellissimo would be shifting his focus away from Wellington. A couple months before the season was set to begin, he announced that the Tryon International Equestrian Center in North Carolina had secured a selection to host the FEI World Equestrian Games — a horse show that had been expected to double the economic impact of the Winter Equestrian Festival in just two weeks.
The future growth of the equestrian industry in Wellington is still up for debate as Bellissimo’s plan for hotels hangs in the balance. The developer has said that much of Tryon’s success comes from its on-site hotels and Wellington will never reach its full potential unless he can build hotels in the village.
There is still one more week of this year’s Winter Equestrian Festival. It concludes with the final event Saturday night starting at 7:30. The last night will feature the $216,000 Wanderers Club Grand Prix.
The polo season ends with the U.S. Open Championship on April 23.