CSI4* Winter Equestrian Festival
The 12-week Winter Equestrian Festival concludes with a career-best win for US rider Adam Prudent, while Irish riders prove their competitiveness
CSI4* Winter Equestrian
Festival week 12, Palm Beach International Equestrian Centre, Florida, USA
THE Americans fought back during the final week of the festival, with home riders taking two out of three big classes, rounded off with a victory for Adam Prudent (Baloutinue) in the $214,000 (£154,000) Wellington Agricultural Services CSI4* grand prix.
Five combinations jumped double clears round German course-designer Olaf Petersen Jr’s 1.60m track, with the first three riders all setting a fresh lead.
But Adam’s attacking round on Plain Bay Farm’s 11-yearold Hanoverian gelding was insurmountable, remaining 1.26sec in front of Canadian Jim Ifko and Un Diamant Des Forets.
It was a first four-star grand prix victory for this son of
Balou Du Rouet, who only stepped up to four- and five-star level this season, having been produced slowly by Adam for the past four years.
“The horse is very careful,” said Adam, 31, who is the son of international riders Katie Monahan-Prudent and Henri Prudent. “I haven’t really had a chance to go fast yet since this is only my third grand prix jump-off with him.
“I pushed it to the limit this time and really asked him to perform the best he could. I knew
I had a lot of fast people behind me so wanted to really lay it down and take every risk I could, and it worked out quite well.”
With the festival concluded, Adam, who previously rode for France, will now give his string of horses at least a month off at his base in Virginia.
SWEETNAM’S PLAN PAYS OFF
WHILE they didn’t have a showing in this week’s grand prix, the Irish have remained on competitive form throughout WEF. At the conclusion of the season, Darragh Kenny was crowned overall winner of the CaptiveOne Advisors 1.50m classic series.
The series final, however, was claimed by his countryman Shane Sweetnam who had kept the class very much in sight with 13-yearold Belgian warmblood mare Indra Van De Oude Heihoef.
In a tough-fought final phase the pair held on to victory by 0.16sec over Mexico’s Eugenio Garza and the 13-year-old stallion Armani SL Z.
“I actually gave her a break and then did two nice classes last week on the Derby field,” Shane said of his winning ride. “She won one of them, and then her focus was to try to have a good chance at winning this, which she delivered. I’m very happy when the plan comes together.
“She has a big heart, and she’s super, super careful,” he added. “She really does not want to hit the jumps, and obviously when you’re going at that speed in the jump-off, you need a special horse
“I wanted to take every risk I could, and it worked out well”
ADAM PRUDENT
to keep the jumps up.
“You see the standard of horses in that jump-off, Nations Cup-calibre horses, championship horses; that’s what you’re up against, so I’m very happy with her.”
Shane added the win to an impressive tally during the festival that included victory in the $401,000 Douglas Elliman Real Estate CSI5* grand prix in week five and representing Ireland for a second-place finish in the $150,000 Nations Cup CSIO4* during week eight.
“This is probably the best
WEF I’ve had, between grand prix wins and being consistently in the ribbons with a good team of horses and owners behind me,” he said. “This is my last class of the season, so this win is just the cherry on top. It’s a great way to finish off.”
BLAKE WINS BIG
THE Irish also had the final word in the closing big class, the 1.45m $50,000 Wanderers Club CSI2* grand prix, when David Blake and Pine Hollow Farm’s Dy Zento produced the fastest of five double clears.
“We haven’t done a whole lot with him, but we built him up for the early circuit, and it all came together today, so it was worth the wait,” David said of the 13-yearold gelding.
“He has a lot of blood,” he added. “The jump-off really suited him today because he’s a big horse, so it really suited his stride and the run down to the last jump”.
“HE’S MY ROCK”
THURSDAY’S feature class, the 1.50m $50,000 Adequan WEF challenge cup round 12, went to US young rider Brian Moggre, 19, and Major Wager LLC’s 12-yearold gelding MTM Vivre Le Reve.
“He’s my rock after all these years,” Brian said. “All of my firsts, like my first FEI class, first grand prix, first three-star, four-star, and five-star, have been his first time also so he’s a horse that I have a really special relationship with.
It’s really nice to see that we’ve still got it.”
Compatriot Kristen Vanderveen and Bull Run’s Faustino De Tili, owned by Bull Run Jumpers Five, won the week’s opening four-star class, the $10,000 Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1.45m jumpers CSI4*.
Belgium’s Stephex Stables was rewarded for their consistency throughout the festival as they collected the Harrison Cup Perpetual Trophy, presented to the owner whose horses won the most money in all of the open jumper classes, accepted by riders Daniel Deusser, Zoe Conter and Emilie Conter.
The Simba Run Perpetual Trophy was also presented to Stephex as the owner of Daniel’s top horse Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z, the open jumper who earned the most prize money in classes held at 1.45m and above.