Lauren Hough and Ohlala. Photo © Sportfot.
Sizzle and Lissa Brazeal Scorch the Competition in Adult Amateur 36-50 Section A Hunters
Wellington, FL, March 8, 2013 – Week nine’s CSI-W 5* competition at the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) continued on Friday with a win for Lauren Hough (USA) and Ohlala in the $33,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class, a Longines FEI world ranking event.
Week nine, sponsored by The Bainbridge Companies, runs March 6-10, 2013. The week will feature the $300,000 FEI World Cup CSI-W 5* presented by The Bainbridge Companies on Saturday evening, and the $82,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic on Sunday afternoon. The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival features 12 weeks of competition running from January 9 – March 31, 2013, and will be awarding almost $7 million in prize money throughout the circuit.
In the feature G&C Farm 1.45m class on Friday, 63 entries showed over course designer Steve Stephens’ speed track with just nine clear rounds. The fastest time of 68.03 seconds for Lauren Hough and The Ohlala Group’s Ohlala was the winner. The pair edged out McLain Ward (USA) and Sagamore Farms’ Rothchild with their time of 68.51 seconds. Eiken Sato (JPN) and Stephex Stables’ Cita B finished third in 69.60 seconds.
Lauren Hough first began showing Ohlala, a nine-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare by Orlando x Cardento, in the young jumpers during last year’s FTI WEF. The pair went on to an astounding year and amassed wins all over the world.
“She is amazing,” Hough smiled. “I think last year I counted that she won over 15 ranking classes and she was best young horse at Aachen and best young horse in Hamburg. I gave her a long break after Holiday and Horses and this is her second show back and she feels great.”
Commenting on her lightning-fast round, Hough detailed, “With her, you don’t really count strides to be honest. She has her own rhythm. You’re not going to win by leaving strides out. Once you just set her on her pace, she is allergic to wood and she makes my job really easy. She is just naturally a fast horse and she doesn’t spend a lot of time in the air. I am very privileged to have a horse that I think has a really bright future.”
“She enjoys winning,” Hough added. “She absolutely knows now what it’s about. She is a winner. She likes competing.”
Ohlala will have next week off and then Hough plans to show her in the grand prix during week eleven. On future plans, Hough explained, “I am not going to put any pressure on her. I believe she can jump the biggest classes, but I am going to let her tell me when she’s ready for that. She can sort of win at any level at this point. I am lucky to have such a great horse.”
Also showing in the International Arena on Friday, Christine McCrea added another victory to her week with a win in the $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m jump-off class aboard Candy Tribble’s Ronaldo de la Pomme. In the $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m speed class, the win went to Alexandra Paillot and her horse Regina de Chamant.
Sizzle and Lissa Brazeal Scorch the Competition in Adult Amateur 36-50 Section A Hunters
Lissa Brazeal and her eight-year-old Hanoverian gelding Sizzle took home championship honors in the Adult Amateur 36-50 Section A Hunter division during week nine of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Brazeal, of Delray Beach, FL, and Sizzle were leading the division after day one of competition when the pair placed third under saddle and second and first over fences. Day two, the pair secured victory with a second place finish in the final over fences round. Reserve champion was Quintas, owned and ridden by Dawn Kelly.
Brazeal had a bumpy start to the second day of the division before making an incredible turn around in round two over fences. “Because we did well [Thursday], I walked into the ring thinking, ‘Oh, we could win this and be champion!’ Most of this is mental. You can’t psych yourself out like that and I did,” Brazeal stated matter-of-factly.
Brazeal’s well-grounded attitude made it easy for her to shrug off the minor setback before putting in a stellar second round performance with Sizzle. Brazeal credits the positive atmosphere her trainer, Amber Harte, maintains at the ring.
“I came out of the ring and Amber just said, ‘Let it go. I’m still proud of you. Just let it go and go do your next trip.’ With her, there’s nothing negative. She has a ‘this is how you fix it’ approach and is very positive,” Brazeal commented.
“It’s such a treat working with Amber and everyone at the barn because it’s such a team effort. I just recently started riding with her and I’ve never had anything like that before. Everything is so positive and happy. They set you up to be successful,” Brazeal continued.
Even more remarkable than Brazeal’s second round turn-around is her trusted mount, Sizzle. “He’s a seeing eye dog, literally. I’m legally blind. I see out of the ride side of my right eye a little bit, so he really is my eyes in the ring,” Brazeal revealed.
“He wants to do everything right and he wants to make you happy. He’s a very rare horse that truly aims to please. He always tries his best and wants to be perfect,” Brazeal described.
Sizzle’s intuition and forgiving nature make it easy for Brazeal to put her complete trust in him. “He knows what I’m going to do before I ask him to do it. He knows exactly what to do and he’s just really good. If I change my mind or make a mistake, he doesn’t punish me for it,” Brazeal explained.
Correction: Thursday’s hunter coverage of the Fumero Law Pre-Green Level 2 Hunters mistakenly identified Sophie and Brian Baldwin as the owners of division champion Lucador. Lucador is owned by Sophie Walker and Susan Gordon’s Sagamore Farm, Inc., and is trained by Brian Walker.
Week nine of the FTI WEF, sponsored by The Bainbridge Companies, continues Saturday with the FarmVet Amateur-Owner 3’3″ Over 35 Hunter division, hosted in the E. R. Mische Grand Hunter Arena of the PBIEC. The Sam Edelman Equitation Classic will be featured at The Stadium at PBIEC at 2 p.m. The International Arena will feature the $300,000 FEI World Cup CSI-W 5* presented by The Bainbridge Companies at 7 p.m. For full results, please visit www.showgroundslive.com.
Lauren Fisher and Laura Cardon for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
About the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival
The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of top competition running from January 9 through March 31. The FTI WEF is run by Equestrian Sport Productions, LLC, and Wellington Equestrian Partners and held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. All 12 shows are “AA” rated and Jumper Rated 6, and more than $7 million in prize money will be awarded. For more information, please visit www.equestriansport.com.
About FTI Consulting
FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and economic environment. With more than 3,800 employees located in 24 countries, FTI Consulting professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges in areas such as investigations, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues, reputation management, strategic communications and restructuring. The company generated $1.56 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2011. More information can be found at www.fticonsulting.com.
Please visit www.equestriansport.com or call 561-793-5867 for more information.
Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
Equestrian Public Relations
info@jenniferwoodmedia.com
