Tag Archives: equestrian competitions

Zivago in Pensacola and Updates

Zivago and Mary Lisa Leffler

What a week!  Equestrians from all over the country traveled to Pensacola and were welcomed by sunny skies, a world class facility at the Escambia County Equestrian Center Show Grounds and the best show management in the country.

The Gulf Coast Classic Company’s Pensacola shows started on January 9th and will run for three weeks.  Offering weekly $25,000 Grand Prix, USEF AA Hunter Sections, weekly USHJA National Hunter Derbies, a USEF International Hunter Derby Week II, as well as a wealth of Jumper Classics for the Junior/AOs and the Children and Adult Jumpers, this is a show series that offers top competition and a vacation destination for the friends and families of the riders.

Yesterday’s feature event was the USHJA National Hunter Derby. In first place was Zivago, owned by Denise Clolery and ridden by Mary Lisa Leffler of Rolling Acres Farm from Brookeville, Maryland.  Bringing home the reserve honors was Belvedere owned and ridden by Ellen Herrington.  In third place was Ufonia P, owned by Paulexi, LLC and ridden by Ashley Foster.  In fourth place was Sin City, owned and ridden by Annie Friedman.  In fifth place was Caracas, owned and ridden by Mary Claire Ray, in sixth place was The Golden Compass, owned by Heatherfield Hunters and ridden by Alyson Gurney.  In seventh place was Carino, owned by T and V Partnership and ridden by Christian Rogge.  In eighth place was McGwire, owned and ridden by Allison Bergmeyer, in ninth place was Fortissimo, owned and ridden by Allyson Quirk.  In tenth place was Hat Trick, owned and ridden by Briggs Surratt and in eleventh place was Rebels, owned and ridden by Taylor Dileo.

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Georgina Bloomberg Wins Adequan 7-Year-Old Young Jumper Championship Qualifier

Lansing and Jeanine Cash Sweep Adult Amateur 36-50 Division

Georgina Bloomberg and South Street. Photo © Sportfot

Wellington, FL – January 11, 2013 – The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) continued with its first week of competition on Friday at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) with a win for New York’s Georgina Bloomberg and South Street in the $1,500 Adequan 7-Year-Old Young Jumper Championship Qualifier and a championship win for Lansing and Jeanine Cash in the Adult Amateur Hunter 36-50 division.

Week one of FTI WEF runs January 9-13, sponsored by The Mar-a-Lago Club. The week will feature a full schedule of exciting hunter/jumper competition, including the $55,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes exhibition class as the start of the “Saturday Night Lights” series and fun events like the Jump for HomeSafe fundraiser. Highlights of week one include the $25,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic on Saturday afternoon and the $30,000 Mar-a-Lago Club Grand Prix on Sunday in the International Arena at PBIEC. The 2013 FTI WEF runs through March 31 featuring 12 weeks of world-class competition.

Continue reading Georgina Bloomberg Wins Adequan 7-Year-Old Young Jumper Championship Qualifier

Long and Short Highlight Louisiana Downs Opener

Q-Racing Journal, January 11, 2013 – The long and the short of American Quarter Horse racing highlights opening day of the Louisiana Downs season with the $15,000 Marathon Stakes over 870 yards and the $15,000 Harrah’s Dash at 250 yards topping Saturday’s program.

Kellie Hebert’s Mr Fallen Angel (Oak Tree Special-Angels Quick Dash by Royal Quick Dash) tries for his second-straight stakes win in the Marathon after taking the 870-yard Au Revoir Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths while leading for the entire race. The 4-year-old gelding from the Randy Hebert barn moved up from the claiming ranks to take the Au Revoir Stakes. Previously, he raced to two wins and a pair of second-place efforts in four starts from the $5,000 to $10,000 claiming level.

Mr Fallen Angel has found his distance at 870 yards with two wins and two second in four starts, his four most recent efforts.

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USEF Network Coverage of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival Starts Tomorrow

Lexington, KY – USEF Network coverage of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival begins tomorrow night with the $55,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes. This event is the first in the “Saturday Night Lights” series of events and features Charlie Jayne and Georgina Bloomberg captaining a team of all male jumpers and all female jumpers, respectively. The team of women will be defending their title for a sixth straight year. The men’s team has never won the Nespresso Battle of the Sexes.

USEF Network live coverage continues on Sunday with the $30,000 Mar-a-Lago Grand Prix.

Over the course of the winter USEF Network is scheduled to broadcast 16 classes live from the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival. A full broadcast schedule is available here.

Continue reading USEF Network Coverage of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival Starts Tomorrow

Rodrigo Pessoa and HH Let’s Fly Win $30,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1

Holly Orlando and Quotable Top Green Conformations Hunters

Rodrigo Pessoa and HH Let's Fly. Photo © Sportfot

Wellington, FL – January 10, 2013 – Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa and HH Let’s Fly galloped to victory in the $30,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1 on the second day of competition at the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) on Thursday. After kicking the year off with a second place finish in last weekend’s inaugural $100,000 Trump Invitational Grand Prix, the duo is off to the races with a win to start their winter circuit.

Week one of FTI WEF runs January 9-13, sponsored by The Mar-a-Lago Club. The week will feature a full schedule of exciting hunter/jumper competition, including the $55,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes exhibition class as the start of the “Saturday Night Lights” series and fun events like the Jump for HomeSafe fundraiser. Highlights of week one include the $25,000 Suncast 1.50M Championship Jumper Classic on Saturday afternoon and the $30,000 Mar-a-Lago Club Grand Prix on Sunday. The 2013 FTI WEF runs through March 31 featuring 12 weeks of world-class competition.

Continue reading Rodrigo Pessoa and HH Let’s Fly Win $30,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1

Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro Reclaim World Number One Status

Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro are the leading combination of the FEI World Dressage Rankings (Kit Houghton/FEI)

Lausanne (SUI), 10 January 2013 – Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, the first British combination to head the FEI World Dressage Rankings, have started the New Year in style by reclaiming the top spot.

Thanks to their masterful performance in the fifth leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage on home ground at London Olympia in December, and a world record score in the Grand Prix at the same event, the double Olympic gold medallist and her 10-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding are once again world number one with 2,943 points.

The Dutch combination of Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival, the London 2012 Olympic silver medallists, are in second place just 37 points behind the leading duo on 2,907.

There are no other changes in the Top Ten, with Germany’s Helen Langehanenberg and Damon Hill NRW holding onto third (2,731) followed by another British duo – Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris – still in fourth place on 2,555 points.

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Shane Sweetnam Wins First Two Classes of the 2013 WEF

Opening Press Conference Held for 2013 FTI WEF, Highlights of Winter Circuit Discussed

Shane Sweetnam and Solerina. Photo © Sportfot

Wellington, FL – January 9, 2013 – The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) hosted its opening day of competition on Wednesday, January 9, at the beautiful Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL, with big wins for Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam. Sweetnam kicked things off with a bang in back to back victories in the first two classes of the circuit in the International Arena.

Sweetnam won the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class aboard Sweet Oak Farm’s Solerina and then went on to take top honors in the $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m jump-off class aboard Spy Coast Farm, LLC’s Eregast Van’t Kiezelhof. Laura Chapot also had a win on day one riding Mary Chapot’s Zealous in the $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m Speed Challenge.

Week one of FTI WEF runs January 9-13, sponsored by The Mar-a-Lago Club. The week will feature a full schedule of exciting hunter/jumper competition, including the $55,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes exhibition class as the start of the “Saturday Night Lights” series and fun events like the Jump for HomeSafe fundraiser. Highlights of week one include the $30,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1 on Thursday, the $25,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic on Saturday afternoon, and the $30,000 Mar-a-Lago Club Grand Prix on Sunday. The 2013 FTI WEF runs through March 31 featuring 12 weeks of world-class competition.

Continue reading Shane Sweetnam Wins First Two Classes of the 2013 WEF

$55,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes Kicks Off 2013 “Saturday Night Lights” on January 12

Wellington, FL – January 7, 2013 – Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) looks forward to kicking off the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) season with its first week of competition coming up on January 9-13, 2013, sponsored by The Mar-a-Lago Club. The week will feature a full schedule of exciting hunter/jumper competition, including the $55,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes exhibition class as the start of the “Saturday Night Lights” series and fun events like the Jump for HomeSafe fundraiser.

The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) will host an opening circuit press conference held on Tuesday, January 8, at 1 p.m. at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. The press conference will include Equestrian Sport Productions CEO Mark Bellissimo, FTI Consulting Chairman Dennis Shaughnessy, and rider representatives.

Food and drinks will be served at the press conference, which will be open to all media who would like to hear about schedule highlights and news for this year. Media planning to attend can also pick up their credentials at the press conference.

Continue reading $55,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes Kicks Off 2013 “Saturday Night Lights” on January 12

A-T Children’s Benefit Horse Show and Spy Coast Farm Young Horse Show Series Finals

Aaron Vale and Zippo II. Photo © ManciniPhotos

Wellington, FL – January 8, 2013 – Equestrian Sport Productions hosted its A-T Children’s Benefit Horse Show on January 3-6, 2013, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL, with a full schedule of hunter/jumper competition. The week featured a $25,000 Grand Prix and $10,000 Welcome Stake along with hunter, jumper and equitation divisions throughout the week. At The Stadium show grounds, a successful second edition of the Spy Coast Farm Young Horse Show Series Finals was held in the VanKampen Arena with increased entries and some of the country’s best young sport horses.

Aaron Vale and Zippo II Blaze to Victory in $25,000 A-T Benefit Grand Prix

On Saturday evening, the International Arena at PBIEC saw 43 horse and rider combinations in the $25,000 A-T Benefit Grand Prix. Competing under the lights, exhibitors jumped a course set by Anthony D’Ambrosio of Red Hook, NY. Seven entries were able to clear the course to advance to the jump-off and three completed double clear rounds to earn top honors.

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Kent Farrington and Dynamo Win $100,000 Trump Invitational Grand Prix CSI 2*

The Voice Winner Cassadee Pope Rocked Opening Ceremonies; Money Raised to Benefit the FTI Consulting Great Charity Challenge

Kent Farrington and Dynamo jump over the Veuve Clicquot fence. Photo © Sportfot

Palm Beach, FL – January 7, 2013 – The first ever $100,000 Trump Invitational Grand Prix CSI 2* debuted to rave reviews on Sunday, January 6, at the beautiful Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, FL. With some of the world’s top show jumpers competing on the lawn of Donald Trump’s scenic estate overlooking South Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway, U.S. rider Kent Farrington jumped to victory in the inaugural class aboard Amalaya Investments’ Dynamo.

The Trump Invitational benefits the 2013 FTI Consulting Great Charity Challenge (FTI GCC), present by Fidelity Investments, one of the hallmarks of Equestrian Sport Productions’ FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival. The event has raised and distributed over $2.7 million to local Palm Beach charities over the last three years. In addition to the grand prix competition on Sunday, a wild card charity was drawn for the 2013 FTI GCC, The Voice winner Cassadee Pope performed some of her top songs as well as the national anthem, and Olympic Dressage duo Tina Konyot and Calecto V performed their winning freestyle exhibition.

Continue reading Kent Farrington and Dynamo Win $100,000 Trump Invitational Grand Prix CSI 2*