Mill Spring, NC – June 25, 2020 – Amanda Derbyshire (GBR) and Luibanta BH bested the $37,000 Horseware Ireland Welcome Stake CSI 2* at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) during Tryon Summer 3 competition, stopping the short-course timers in 37.785 seconds. Eduardo Menezes (BRA) and H5 Elvaro, the 2009 Dutch Warmblood stallion (Calvaro F.C. x Heartbreaker) owned by H5 Sport Horses LLC, earned second place on a short-course time of 38.23 seconds, while Jack Hardin Towell (USA) came in third aboard Rock Ridge Farms’ Gotcha, the 2011 Holsteiner mare (Stakkato x Cassini I), with a time of 38.246 seconds.
The course design by Peter Grant (CAN) saw 61 entries challenge the first-round track, with 19 pairs qualifying for the jump-off round. Derbyshire and the 2008 Irish Sport Horse mare (Luidam x Abantos) owned by herself and Gochman Sport Horse LLC were able to utilize their late standing in the order-of-go to earn the edge, she explained: “The course was nice. There were a lot of entries, so it was a big jump-off. I had the advantage of going right near the end, so I saw what I had to do and just went for it. The footing was perfect!”
Freddie Vazquez and Dontez Claim $6,000 Power & Speed Stake CSI 2*
TIEC’s first international class of 2020 was hosted Wednesday in Tryon Stadium to kick off Tryon Summer 3 CSI 2* competition with the $6,000 Power & Speed Stake. Freddie Vazquez (PUR) and Dontez, a 2008 Dutch Warmblood gelding (Verdi Tn x Wolfgang) owned by himself and G6 Holdings, cleared the speed phase in 38.74 seconds to take the win, as one of 58 entries to test the Peter Grant (CAN) course design and out of 41 pairs qualifying for the speed test. Fernando Cardenas Jr. (COL) and Quincy Too, a 2009 Zangersheide gelding owned by Fernando Cardenas, claimed second with a speed phase time of 39.721 seconds, while Schuyler Riley (USA) and the 2008 Belgian Warmblood stallion (Erco van T Roosakker x For Pleasure) owned by E2 Showjumpers, Iceman de Muze, rounded out the podium on a time of 40.567 seconds.
Wellington, FL – Dec. 8, 2016 – Both Freddie Vazquez and the Messenger Hill Farm Team put in solid performances and earned multiple championships at Holiday and Horses FEI CSI 4* at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida.
International course designer Anthony D’Ambrosio built tough tracks for the 4* week. Vazquez and his two Messenger Hill Farm mounts, Bachelor 4 and Esprit De Vie, stepped up to the challenge. With Bachelor 4, Vazquez qualified for the Saturday night feature class, the $216,000 Holiday & Horses FEI CSI 4*. They drew second place in the order. With two rails knocked down, the pair maintained a top placing throughout the class. The event produced no fault-free rounds. Only two one-faulters progressed to the short course, Russian rider Liubov Kochetova, who won the class, and Maggie McAlary. Vazquez finished just two spots out of the money.
Bachelor 4 (Baloubet Du Rouet x Maike) is a 14-year-old Rheinlander gelding. At the SFHJA Annual Charity show, they were in the money in both the $35,000 Spy Coast/Sweet Oak Farm Grand Prix and the $10,000 Paul Tracy Open Welcome Stake. The pair was second in both a grand prix and a welcome stake in Chicago earlier this year. In October, they were fifth at the Split Rock Jumping Tour Bourbon International $130,000 CSI 3* Grand Prix.
Holiday and Horses was also a successful show for Vazquez’s Pan Am partner Esprit De Vie. They nabbed third place in the 1.40m Jumpers, just behind Todd Minikus and his two mounts Zephyr and Coverboy.
“I am very pleased with my horses and how they’re performing,” Vazquez said. “That was only Bachelor’s second show under the lights. He’s handling it really well and jumped really easily. He feels strong and confident. To be third in that company in the 1.40m with Sperry (Esprit De Vie) and be behind Todd in first and second is really a good feeling.”
Esprit De Vie (Van De Heffnick x Sacha) is a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare. The pair won a grand prix and a welcome stake in Chicago and had top five placings at WEF in 2016.
“She can be hot at times and tends to get really strong at the end of the course,” he said. “It’s taken me time to figure out what works best for her. As I learn her preferences we just keep improving our partnership.”
Supported by top-notch coaching from Freddie and Jodi Vazquez, the Messenger Hill Farm Team shined in competition during Holiday and Horses. The team earned multiple championships and great prizes.
Chloe Jhin is a young competitor who consistently performs at the top. During Holiday and Horses she moved up from the Puddle Jumpers to the Low Children’s Jumpers and earned three third place prizes with her own Liberty. Switching to the hunters, Jhin rode her Trousseau, to the championship of the Low Children’s Hunters with her smooth, accurate rounds. The judges awarded the pair two blue ribbons, a fourth and a seventh to seal the tricolors.
Elodie Watrous, the younger of the Watrous sisters, clinched the championship and reserve championship of the Children’s Pony Hunters with Beaverwood’s Foxberry and her own Crystal Acres Chocolatier, respectively. With “Foxy,” they swept the over fences classes and with “Hershey” they nabbed all the red ribbons over fences.
The Vazquezes recently matched talented young rider Chloe Watrous with her first equitation horse, Sunman, owned by Sweet Oak Farm. The duo earned a reserve championship in the Equitation 11 and Under with a first and two second place prizes. She was also reserve champion in the Low Children’s Hunters with Modigliani, owned by Jamie Stryker, earning a first, a second, a third and fifth place prizes. Watrous and her small pony Page 6 and her two medium ponies Beaverwood’s Foxberry and Crystal Acres Chocolatier all earned respectable prizes.
University of Miami student and longtime Messenger Hill Farm client Kira Telford piloted her own Calistoga Gold to the championship of the Adult Amateur Hunters with three blue ribbons, a red and a yellow to their credit. CR Moet and Telford were also in the ribbons in the division.
“We are so proud of the team,” Jodi Vazquez said. “It was a really fun and productive week. We’re looking forward to a fantastic season.”
The Messenger Hill Farm team has settled in at Messenger Hill Farm south in Grand Prix Village and will return to competition at the Palm Beach Equestrian Center for Holiday Festival mid-December.
Freddie Vazquez and Zippo Z. The pair will represent Puerto Rico in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico. Photo by Kira Telford.
Vazquez and Zippo Z Win 1.30m at ESP Charity Preview
Wellington, FL – November 19, 2014 – Freddie Vazquez will represent his native Puerto Rico in show jumping at the XXII Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico. The Games, which includes many Olympic sports, will feature show jumping team competition on Nov. 26-27 and the individual competition on Nov. 29.
Vazquez and his wife Jodi are the owners and head trainers of Messenger Hill Farm, a full-service hunter/jumper facility in the Chicago area. Vazquez began riding in Puerto Rico at the age of 9 and moved to the U.S. when he was15.
Vazquez departs for the Games on Nov. 20 and took the opportunity to compete with Zippo Z over the past weekend at Equestrian Sport Production’s Pre Charity Show in Wellington, Florida, where they handily won the 1.30m Open Jumpers in the International Arena on Sunday.
“The very first event at the Games is the 1.30m speed class,” Vazquez said of his game plan to prepare his horse for the upcoming international competition. “I rode the first round very tidy and went well within the time allowed. In my jump-off round, I made some nice turns and just let him do his thing – and we won the class. Hopefully we can take the energy down to Veracruz and have a great result at the Games.”
Four years ago, Vazquez was the alternate rider when the Games were held in Puerto Rico. This year, he has been named the anchor rider of the team. The Central American and Caribbean Games only accepts two teams from the Caribbean islands. In this Olympic cycle, there were four islands that were interested in competing. The FEI held trials in Wellington at the end of March to determine the two islands’ teams that would compete in the Veracruz Games.
“I was part of the team chosen for the qualifying event,” Vazquez said. “We actually won the whole event. Zippo was the only horse in the entire competition to go double clear.”
Vazquez has had Zippo (by Zandor Z out of Monica) for just over a year and things are coming together for the pair. Vazquez feels he is beginning to understand the 12-year-old Zangersheide stallion.
“It’s taken me all of the last year to figure him out and our relationship keeps growing and growing – he just keeps getting better and better,” he said. “He has all the scope in the world, and he’s incredibly adjustable. He can leave two strides out. He’s just super rideable now. I really think he could jump the Olympics – he’s got that kind of power.”
“He’s not a super fast horse across the ground,” continued Vazquez. “But we’ve been working on that, and it is paying off. I feel like our galloping has improved. He’s a tremendous horse, and I’m very fortunate to have him.”
The Central American and Caribbean Games competition is conducted in an FEI Nations Cup format. The first day is a 1.30m speed class. The second day features two rounds at 1.35m-1.40m, which concludes the team competition. Then, horses and riders have one day off before the individual final, a 1.45m event.
“I feel good; he’s always been a very sound horse,” Vazquez said. “Knock on wood! In this sport you always need a little bit of luck!”
Vazquez recognizes that he and his team will face some formidable competition at the Games from Team Venezuela with Pablo Barrios, Team Mexico on their home turf and Team Colombia.
“Venezuela shows all over the world and they always put a great team together,” said Vazquez. “Pablo Barrios is considered one of the best riders in the world and his teammates are amazing, as well. Mexico always puts a strong team together, and they’re going to have the home soil advantage. Another team to watch is Colombia. You never want to rule out Daniel Bluman – he is one of the world’s best.”
Vazquez shared that his main goal is to have a great experience. Jodi Vazquez is currently running their busy farm in Mettawa, Illinois, but will join him for the competition in Veracruz.
“I’d love a medal for my island, myself and my horse,” he said. “Hopefully this will springboard my team or me to the Pan American Games in Canada next July. Like anyone else in the sport at this level, you always have Olympic dreams. I just have to keep knocking at it. I’ve been dreaming about moments like this since I was 10 years old. I am fortunate to have the resources and an amazing family, wife, staff, grooms and vets. It takes a lot of people to put this together.”
Carrie Wirth for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
Freddie Vazquez and Presently were victorious in the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby.
Parker, CO – July 14, 2013 – The battle for the title in the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at Summer in the Rockies V came down to the handy after a tie in the first round, and Freddie Vazquez chose an effective path and laid down a brilliant trip with Mark Senn’s Presently to secure the win over Kelli Cruciotti and Monterrey.
“My horse could not have jumped better,” Vazquez said. “He was fabulous. It was a beautiful day to ride today, a good temperature and a beautiful sky.”
Twenty-two horses and riders came out for the International Derby. In the classic round, Cruciotti and Monterrey scored 178, a score no one could touch until Vazquez and Presently, competing third to last in the order of go, matched it.
Vazquez was awarded the victory in the classic round, with the first judging panel’s scores serving as the tiebreaker. But he had his work cut out for him to produce a handy round good enough to best Cruciotti, a young but formidable competitor who came into the class off a win three weeks ago in the International Derby at Summer in the Rockies III.
Kelli Cruciotti and Monterrey
“The tie always makes me a little bit nervous, because I’ve got to then really turn it on,” Vazquez said. And turn it on he did. He and Presently found their way through the handy course with style, earning base scores of 86.5 and 85.5 from the two judging panels, plus 4 high option points and a 7-point handy bonus from each panel. Their 194 in the second round sealed the win over Cruciotti, who scored 187.5.
“I opted to do a little bit of a serpentine through the ring,” Vazquez explained. “I came back on the first fence, rode through the middle with the snake logs, back again over the birch vertical, back again over the oxer – just did a little serpentine which I felt could show our handiness.”
“We did all the high options,” he continued. “We had a nice trot fence. I tried to just allow a nice gallop for my ride, and then after the hand gallop I wanted to make sure he came back to me and could reach some height at the oxer. Obviously I’m very pleased.”
Course designer Skip Bailey offered the riders many options throughout the course. “I always give options,” Bailey said. “The riders love choosing their own path.”
The course began with a choice between two similar jumps facing different directions. Competitors then rode through the middle of the ring and over the “snake” obstacle, which had several segments that could be jumped from either direction. From there, they chose between two jumps set at a right angle in the middle of the arena and then continued to fence 4, a single oxer. All of the options came into play as riders selected several different routes through the first three fences, with some choosing a longer, loopier path and some negotiating tight turns.
A distinguished group of judges was on hand for the International Derby. Frank Willard, Mark Jungherr, Brian Lenehan and Geoff Teall assessed the performance of horse and rider over the classic and handy courses.
“It was such a great course and it’s such a great ring with great footing,” Teall commented. “I thought he (Vazquez) was awesome. He’s really gotten so good. We’ve been talking about him all week – he’s really improved so much over the last year. There are so many things that can go wrong when you’re on top, and he just had a beautiful ride.”
Teall added that he was impressed by the younger riders in the class, including Cruciotti and third-place finisher Hunter Holloway. Holloway and Chianti’s Dream, owned by Hays Investment Corp., scored 197 for their handy trip to win that round. “It’s really fun to see the kids do it that well, and have the opportunity to do it,” Teall said.
While some riders ran into trouble at the first fence, nothing could stop Vazquez and Presently. “You couldn’t build a jump scary enough for him,” Vazquez said. ‘You could light one on fire and he’d be happy with it – it might get his attention a little bit.”
“The footing is great,” Vazquez continued. “It was a beautiful course built by Skip Bailey – I’m a big fan of Skip. Showplace Productions and Pat Boyle gave him an incredible amount of material to work with, and he built beautiful, impressive fences that allowed good derby horses to really show their ability.”
Vazquez, who trains out of Messenger Hill Farm in Libertyville, IL, alongside wife Jodi, thanked his staff for helping him achieve the win. “My staff is wonderful, and my grooms are incredible,” he said. “My wife, Jodi, prepared the horse beautifully. Katie Kappler, another one of our head trainers, is also an incredible asset to Messenger Hill Farm. My assistants, my shoers, my vets, Katie Kappler, and number one of all, my beautiful wife Jodi – without them, this wouldn’t happen. I get the easy part.”
The International Derby capped a day that began with the $2,500 CHP Pony Derby and also featured the $5,000 USHJA National Derby. “It’s really a nice day,” Teall said. “I’ve never seen one where they had three derbies in one day, and I really enjoyed it. They make it a big deal and it’s fun to have that many people watching. Skip always does a great job and Pat always does a great job.”
The National Derby proved to be popular, drawing 38 horses and riders. Brianna Davis and Riveting, owned by Sarah Engel, were consistent in both rounds to finish in first overall. Riveting and Davis sat just behind the leading pairs with an 84 in the first round and earned an impressive score of 89 in the handy to step up and clinch the win. Their total score of 173 was one point ahead of second-placed Kelley Buringa, riding Katie Thomas’ Yahtzee.
Brianna Davis and Riveting came away with the win in the $5,000 USHJA National Derby
“I thought the course rode very nice,” Davis said. “I enjoyed all the fill and the course jumped well. Having that many options really made me think, that’s for sure. I just did what I thought would be easiest for my horse, with the turns and the different options.”
Davis, the head trainer at Mary Dunahay’s Savoy Stables in Littleton, CO, has worked with Riveting since the beginning of his show career.
“He’s one of the most special horses I’ve ever had,” Davis said. “I imported him as a three-year-old and I’ve had him with me ever since. He has a new owner that just bought him in Thermal, so she’s getting used to him. He’s a jack of all trades. He jumps beautifully, and the four white socks definitely help. He’s just very pleasant to watch.”
Rylee Shufelt and her own Harrington Park Quest started the day off by claiming the top spot in the $2,500 CHP Pony Derby. Shufelt trains with Lauren Stevens of Stepping Out Farm in Corrales, NM. She scored an 80 in both the classic and handy rounds to take first by a comfortable margin over second-placed Jordan Cobbs and John Wayne. She also finished sixth with her large pony, Camelot.
“The course was nice,” 10-year-old Shufelt said. “They gave you space to do the handy turns. I tried to take it subtle and make it seem nice and easy.”
Shufelt praised Harrington Park Quest and said she especially appreciates his attitude. “I love him,” she said. “He’s like, ‘Let’s do this, I know I’m at a horse show, I’m going to try.’ He’s just the best pony in the world.”
The Colorado Horse Park Summer in the Rockies Fast Facts
What: Summer in the Rockies AA-Rated Hunter Jumper Show Series
Event Dates:
Summer in the Rockies I June 5-9, 2013
Summer in the Rockies II June 12-16, 2013
Summer in the Rockies III June 19-23, 2013
Summer in the Rockies IV July 3-7, 2013
Summer in the Rockies V July 10-14, 2013
Summer in the Rockies VI July 17-21, 2013
Prize List:
Click here for an online version of the prize list. For a hard copy of the prize list, please e-mail prizelist@cohorsepark.com with your name, address and phone number and specify which prize list you would like (spring/fall or summer).
Entries:
Mail to The Colorado Horse Park, 7522 South Pinery Drive, Parker, CO 80134 or fax to (303) 841-7879. Opening date for Stall Reservations: April 1, 2013. Closing date May 20, 2013.
Contact Information:
Pat Boyle, Show Manager (847) 274-6834
Brian Curry, Show Manager (303) 918-2908
Show Office (303) 841-7461
Show Office Fax (303) 841-1419
Colorado Horse Park Main Office (303) 841-5550
Colorado Horse Park Main Office Fax (303) 841-7879
Tentative Schedule:
Wed – Sun: Show starts daily at 8 a.m. unless otherwise noted
Directions:
Address: 7375 E Bayou Gulch Rd, Parker, CO 80134
From North: I-25S exit Ridgegate Parkway – go east under the freeway. Ridgegate Parkway to S. Chambers Road, approx 3 miles (Traffic light) – turn right/south onto Chambers Road. At end of Chambers Road turn left/east onto Hess Road. Hess Road to Parker Road/Hwy 83 – turn right/south onto Hwy 83 approx 4 miles to Bayou Gulch Road. (Traffic light). Follow signs to Colorado Horse Park.
From South: I-25N, exit Founder’s Parkway. Founder’s Parkway to Highway 86, approx 4 miles (traffic light). Turn east/left onto Hwy. 86 to Franktown/Hwy 83. At Franktown go north on 83 approx. 7 mi. to Bayou Gulch Rd. (Traffic light), turn right/east onto Bayou Gulch Rd. Follow signs to Colorado Horse Park.
About the Colorado Horse Park
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, the Colorado Horse Park was founded by visionary Helen Krieble who acknowledged the need for a high-volume horse show and horse boarding facility to serve Colorado. The Colorado Horse Park welcomes more than 75,000 visitors per year and hosts over 40 competitions annually. CHP features a derby arena designed by Olympic-designer Linda Allen and a cross-country course designed by Olympic Gold Medalist David O’Connor and eventing super-star James Atkinson. There are 300 permanent stalls with capacity for more than 1,000 stalls.
The picturesque property, located only minutes from the town of Parker, hosts international equestrian events in multiple disciplines. Visitors enjoy the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountain surroundings and access to miles of trails and open space. The Colorado Horse Park is committed to supporting equestrian education and amateur athletics, preserving open space, fundraising for local charities and supporting the community.
Mary Adelaide Brakenridge for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
