Wellington, FL – March 17, 2022 – On Thursday, March 17, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, international competition continued during the week 10 of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), sponsored by Horseware Ireland. Nick Dello Joio (USA) snagged the victory in the day’s featured event, the $75,000 Adequan® WEF Challenge Cup Round X CSI4*, beating out seven other top pairings for the win aboard Cornet’s Cambridge.
A large field of 70 horse-and-rider combinations contested Michel Vaillancourt’s (CAN) first-round challenge with hopes of adding their names to the list compiled for the jump-off track. Darragh Kenny (IRL) proved the luck of the Irish was alive and well on this Saint Patrick’s Day as he and Volnay Du Boisdeville produced the first clear effort. Seventeen different nations vied for the top spot, but the final battle came down to three Irishmen, three Americans, Beat Mändli as the lone representative for Switzerland, and Ben Maher as the solo contender for Great Britain.
Nick Dello Joio was one of three U.S. riders to return for the short track, but his expert navigation over the course with The Berry Group LLC’s 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding Cornet’s Cambridge (Balou Du Reventon x Cambridge 8) proved to be enough to hold on to the lead. The duo laid down a fast and flawless performance, clocking in at 37.87 seconds which put them two seconds ahead of the closest challenger.
While not at the top of the podium, Ireland still had a strong performance with Mark McAuley and Jasco VD Bisschop taking second place, while Jordan Coyle rode to third aboard Centriko Volo. McAuley chased Dello Joio’s time with SNC McAuley Equestrian’s 13-year-old BWP gelding (Dulf Van Den Bisschop x Verania) and produced the only other double-clear effort, but was not quite quick enough across the ground after landing with a time of 39.61 seconds. Coyle then put forth the fastest four-fault score with a time of 36.56 seconds on Celtic Park LLC’s 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Centadel x Chacco-Blue).
Jennifer Bauersachs and Genuine Are Grand in the TRM Green Hunter 3’ Division
Up-and-coming hunter talent took to the FarmVet Ring 6 early in the morning for the final few classes of the TRM Green Hunter 3’ division. Professional hunter rider Jennifer Bauersachs piloted Lee Kellogg Sadrian’s seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding Genuine (Diarado x Kampari W) to the lead position.
Reserve champion honors went to Scott Stewart with Rivers Edge’s Northern Blue. The pair earned a first place ribbon and were right behind Bauersachs in the stake class with a score of 85.5 points.
For more information and results, please visit www.PBIEC.com.
Peter Lombardo Leaves His Mark on WEF 2015 with Hunter Tricolors
Wellington, FL – March 12, 2015 – Nick Dello Joio (USA) and Coker Farm, Inc.’s Contiki were the winners over Kent Farrington (USA) and Robin Parsky’s Blue Angel in a thrilling jump-off for Thursday’s $34,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 10 at the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). Twenty-five-year-old Dello Joio edged out Farrington by less than one-tenth of a second for his first ever WEF Challenge Cup win.
The tenth week of WEF competition, sponsored by Horseware Ireland, runs March 11-15. The highlight event of the week is the $127,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix CSI 3* on Saturday, March 14, which will be live streamed at this link – http://bit.ly/18EqpLH. Other features include the $34,000 1.45m FEI world ranking class on Friday and the $34,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic on Sunday, also live streamed here – http://bit.ly/1wZSYz4.
Michel Vaillancourt (USA) set the course for 83 entries in Thursday’s tenth round of WEF Challenge Cup competition. He saw 12 clear rounds, and 10 returned for the jump-off where only three were able to clear the short course without fault.
Meagan Nusz (USA) and Amalaya Investments’ Sri Aladdin were first to clear the jump-off in 41.88 seconds to finish third. Farrington and Blue Angel upped the pace in 38.56 seconds, but eventually settled for second. Last to go, Dello Joio and Contiki completed the winning time of 38.47 seconds. Andres Rodriguez (VEN) and Arao Enterprises LLC’s Caballito had the fastest time in 37.10 seconds, but one rail put the pair in fourth place.
“It was nice to go last in both rounds,” Dello Joio pointed out. “I was able to watch the first one go in the jump-off and then my Dad was able to watch Kent go on the screen and kind of gave me a plan. We stuck to it and luckily it paid off today.”
“That horse is a bit of his own way. There is not really a lead change or great rideability. He is very good at going fast though. His natural gait is just to want to go and he is super careful, so fast and careful is a good combination when you are in a jump-off,” Dello Joio remarked. “Contiki doesn’t spend much time in the air. He lands and he goes; it’s not like he lands and you have to create. What is hard for me, where I probably lost a few seconds with that horse, is the turns. He is not one to just turn back on a jump. He doesn’t really allow you to do that with his rideability yet, so I probably just covered more ground faster. I was not as tidy as Kent probably was, but Contiki has a huge stride and when you let him go, he is a really quick horse.”
Contiki is a nine-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Contendro x Calido I). Dello Joio began riding him before the 2014 WEF circuit and explained that the horse has come a long way since then.
“That horse last year was doing the medium schooling jumpers here, and we were having trouble,” Dello Joio stated. “We didn’t know what we had, but as the summer progressed he got better. Spruce Meadows is where he really started to shine. He started in the 1.30m and ended up in the main ring in the 1.45m the last week getting ribbons. Then he won two grand prixs in eastern Canada and a grand prix or two in Tryon. He has been a little weapon for me. He has been great, and nobody would have thought that. Nobody wanted him. He is a bit of an oddity.”
“He doesn’t do lead changes, he is tough to ride, and he spooks at everything,” the rider continued. “You just wouldn’t think he was a grand prix winner when you sat on him. This time last year we were ready to give up on the horse, but now he is my favorite. He is just a little winner.”
Commenting on his very first WEF Challenge Cup victory, Dello Joio acknowledged, “It feels great to win. It is a tough class to win, especially today. This course was really hard. I thought it was quite technical, but luckily we pulled it off today.”
In addition to the winning portion of prize money, Dello Joio was awarded the $3,000 SSG Gloves “Go Clean for the Green” bonus. Each week of the WEF Challenge Cup Series, a $3,000 bonus will be awarded to the winning rider if they are wearing SSG ‘Digital’ Riding Gloves in all rounds of competition with the SSG logo clearly visible.
Also showing on Thursday, Hardin Towell (USA) and Jennifer Gates LLC’s Cadence won the $8,000 1.45m jump-off class. Laurenz Buhl (GER) and Gotham Enterprizes LLC’s Jolie Le Coer S finished second.
Peter Lombardo Leaves His Mark on WEF 2015 with Hunter Tricolors
Peter Lombardo may have still been jet lagged after a cross-country trip to Wellington last week, but it didn’t stop him from jumping Academy Award, owned by Mary Katherine Dick, to a Shapley Grooming Products Regular Conformation Hunter Championship during WEF 9 and clinching the Week 10 honor again today.
Highlighted by blue ribbons in the stake and over fences with the eight-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding, Lombardo also took home second in the model, fourth over fences and sixth in the handy for the division championship. Hailing from Wilton, CT, Lombardo made his way to California in 2000 to work for West Coast trainer Archie Cox before opening his own Frontier Farms in Moorpark, California in 2009. A regular winner at HITS Thermal during the winter months, Lombardo flew six hunters to WEF for two weeks of Florida competition this year.
Peter Lombardo and Academy Award
“The horses really benefit from something new,” he said about the change in scenery. “I grew up on the East Coast and we come for Devon and the indoor shows, but this is my first time ever showing at WEF and it’s been lovely. The horses went so nicely – it’s a special show and they reacted by giving their best. It takes a lot of planning and is a huge undertaking to fly these horses across the country, but it is really is nice to show in different places.”
First-time jitters were nowhere in sight for Lombardo and Academy Award, USEF Regular Conformation Horse of the Year in 2014, who also shows with Dick in the Junior Hunters. During WEF 9, Dick was Champion with her gelding and picked up the High Point owner/rider award after only purchasing him a few months ago in December.
“Round for round, he is always really good,” said Lombardo who brought Academy Award to his barn two years ago as a Green Conformation Hunter. “He’s a very glamorous horse and a great animal. I was really lucky to come across him.”
Lombardo was also Reserve Champion aboard Janie Andrew’s Ante Up with a win in the handy, third in the stake, sixth under saddle, and second and third over fences. “He’s a campaigner that we’ve have for a long time,” he said of the 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding. “He does the amateurs with Janie and has had big wins on both the East and West Coasts.”
WEF 10 continues on Friday featuring the $34,000 1.45m speed class in the International Arena. Hunters will award championship honors in the Camping World Adult Amateur Hunter 50 & Over Section A in the E. R. Mische Grand Hunter Ring. For full results and more information, please visit www.pbiec.com.
Lauren Fisher and Lindsay Brock for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
Sara Ballinger and Wanderprinz Earn Top Call in Ariat National Adult Medal
Wellington, FL – March 28, 2014 – The 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) hosted classics for the young jumpers on Friday during its twelfth and final week of competition at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. In the $20,000 Adequan 8-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic, Nick Dello Joio (USA) and Boomerang were the winners. Sloane Coles (USA) and WEC l’Ami Noir topped the $20,000 Adequan 7-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic, and Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Dakota VDL won the $15,000 Adequan 6-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic.
FTI WEF week twelve, sponsored by FTI Consulting, continues through March 30, 2014. Saturday will feature the $100,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Final and $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix CSI 5* along with round one of the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, which concludes on the derby field on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Live streaming is available on Saturday, March 29, at approximately 6:30 p.m. EST for the $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix CSI 5*. Live streaming will begin with the $100,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Final Jump-off. Watch here: http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/2014-fti-finale-grand-prix-live.
Anthony D’Ambrosio (USA) set the tracks for Friday’s young jumper classes in the International Arena at PBIEC. All of the classes were held with the option to either jump-off immediately following their round or wait until after the first round of competition. In the $20,000 Adequan Eight-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic, 61 entries showed with eight to jump-off, and five double clear rounds. Nick Skelton (GBR) led the way with Aristio for most of the class, jumping off early in 38.60 seconds, but eventually moved into third place. Adam Prudent (FRA) jumped off after his round with Henri Prudent’s Si Bella and briefly took the lead in 38.09 seconds, but was pushed into second. Nick Dello Joio (USA) chose to return for his jump-off round at the end, and took over for the win with Emilie Martinsen’s Boomerang in 37.35 seconds.
Boomerang, a KWPN gelding by Orlando x Lux, is a horse that Martinsen rode last summer and then asked Dello Joio to ride with the idea to bring him along and sell.
“I am privileged to ride him,” Dello Joio stated after his win. “He is full of character. He is a small horse, but he has more scope and more range than any horse I think I have ever ridden. He is a bit cheeky and has a lot of personality. I think all of that combined is what makes him a super horse.”
“I have been riding him at this circuit for five or six weeks, and I think it is time for him to move up,” the rider noted. “This is a good division for him, but he is better over a bigger fence, so I think it’s time to see what he’s got. We have schooled him at home and other places, and when the horse jumps bigger, he is way more focused. When he jumps smaller, it is just too easy for him. It’s like (Michael) Jordan playing street ball or something. It’s not fair, so I’m excited to take him to the next level.”
Commenting on the ride and his decision to wait to jump-off until the end, Dello Joio explained, “With horses like him, you always want to keep them a little bit under your thumb. You want to keep them with you and together. He’s not a horse that you want to get off his back and let him do what he wants. You have to kind of work together, and that is when he is at his best, and his most focused.”
“In the first round, maybe I left him a little bit too fresh,” Dello Joio mused. “He is so gamey; he is so on it, so he finished the first round, and I thought I would just bring him out and let him chill. I wanted to re-school him and get his focus again, and then go back in and have a round like that, and it paid off.”
For his round in the jump-off, Dello Joio asked the advice of his father, Norman, heading in. “I asked dad what he thought about it, if we wanted to push him or how important this class was for him,” the rider explained. “He just said, ‘Be smart and be smooth.’ The horse is so quick across the ground; his stride eats it up for a little horse. I had to almost chip and do the nine (strides) down the last line. Everyone else was galloping and I could have done eight if I really needed to, but I saw the clock and I was like, ‘All right, wait, easy.’ I just made neat turns and used his stride to my advantage. I have never really put any gas on the fire, so it worked out.”
Dello Joio plans to step Boomerang up a little bit in the months to come and knows that the horse has a great future. “There are some shows here in April, so maybe we will pull him out one week and jump one of the grand prix classes here on him quietly, without a ton of people, and just see what he does and see how he reacts to it,” he said. “Then the plan is for him to go to Old Salem and Spruce Meadows, which I think will be fantastic mileage for him. Old Salem is an amazing venue, and Calgary, there is no better in the world for experience for horses. If he keeps going like that, he is a super horse, so I think he will get sold.”
Sloane Coles and WEC l’Ami Noir Win $20,000 Adequan Seven-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic
The $20,000 Adequan Seven-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic was featured at the FTI WEF on Friday afternoon with 20 out of 72 entries making it through to the jump-off and 13 double clear rounds over Anthony D’Ambrosio’s short course. Early on, Sloane Coles (USA) and The Windwood Group’s WEC l’Ami Noir set a very fast pace in 30.84 seconds that would hold on to the lead through the end. Ronan McGuigan (IRL) and Blythe Masters’ Chapeau finished second in 30.96 seconds. Tim Gredley (GBR) and Unex Billy Dream placed third in 31.65 seconds, and Ramiro Quintana (ARG) and St. Bride’s Farm’s Tua Efele finished fourth in 32.22 seconds.
Sloane Coles and WEC l’Ami Noir
WEC l’Ami Noir is a Holsteiner gelding by Cormint x Corrado I that owners at The Windwood Group purchased as a five-year-old. Coles started riding l’Ami two months ago and has been showing the gelding in the seven-year-old classes throughout the last half of the FTI WEF circuit, including a win during week ten leading up to the final.
“When the owners bought him, they kind of knew that he was going to be a grand prix horse, and I think he has proven that already as a seven-year-old,” Coles noted. “He is just very scopey and very careful. He is light on his feet and quick off the ground. He wants to be a winner; he really wants to be fast. The rideability is there, it is getting better, but he is just a super horse and I am looking forward to having him in the future.”
Speaking of l’Ami’s personality, Coles described, “When we first got him, he was a little bit funny. He didn’t want to be loved on and he was a little weird, but now we are spoiling him and he is really developing a personality. He is very put together, almost proud of himself. He is big and beautiful and he knows he is a good horse, which is good.”
“I didn’t start showing him here until maybe week six, but he has done the seven-year-old classes the whole circuit,” she detailed. “Today was bigger than it has been down here, and I feel like he just stepped up. I feel like he definitely could have jumped bigger today if he had to. His stride is huge. I left out strides in a couple of places in the jump-off, and I think that is how I won it.”
Coles heads back to her base in Middleburg, VA, after this week and shows in Virginia and Kentucky throughout the summer with the goal of the Seven-Year-Old Young Jumper Championships at the Hampton Classic in August.
Darragh Kenny and Dakota VDL Top $15,000 Adequan Six-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic
The $15,000 Adequan Six-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic was the first class in the International Arena at PBIEC on Friday with a win for Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Hyperion Stud LLC’s Dakota VDL. The six-year-old Holsteiner stallion (Casall x Contender) was purchased from VDL Stud two years ago for the highest bid of $210,000 at the 2012 WEF Sport Horse Auction in Wellington. Kenny started riding the horse this year in the middle of January and showed throughout the winter at the 1.30m level.
In Friday’s six-year-old classic, the pair topped a class of 63 entries where 26 advanced to the jump-off. They had the fastest time of 34.60 seconds out of 11 double clear rounds. Sloane Coles and The Windwood Group’s WEC Damokles finished second in 35.25 seconds. Alex Granato (USA) guided Page Tredennick’s Calchen W to third place honors in 35.28 seconds, and Darrin Dlin (CAN) and Susan Grange’s Tienna placed fourth in 35.70 seconds.
Darragh Kenny and Dakota VDL
“He is really a special horse,” Kenny praised. “He was already jumping the 1.30m easy. He basically did not do any of the six-year-old classes all winter because we wanted to jump him a little bit bigger. He has huge scope, and he is very careful. He is very, very competitive and today he was super.”
“He is super easy,” the rider added. “There is nothing difficult about him. He doesn’t spook, he has loads of jump, he is very careful and easy to ride. It is an easy thing to go in and try to win a class like this on him. He makes my life very easy, so that’s nice. The idea is to just keep building him up and see where he goes. I think he has all the ability to be a top horse.”
Kenny commented on the course, stating, “I thought it was very good. It was a little technical and a little spooky, which was good. The good horses ended up at the top and that was the right way to do it.”
Kenny and Dakota VDL had an impressive round through D’Ambrosio’s short course to conclude their FTI WEF circuit with a win, and Kenny looks forward to furthering the horse’s potential when they show together again in Canada this summer.
“I think actually on Monday he is going to leave to go back to Hyperion Stud in Virginia to start breeding,” Kenny noted. “He will do a lot of breeding for April and some of May and then he will come to Spruce Meadows for me to jump. He will keep breeding for the future and then we will keep showing him and see where it goes.”
Sara Ballinger and Wanderprinz Earn Top Call in Ariat National Adult Medal
Sara Ballinger of Marion, OH, and her 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding Wanderprinz finished first in the Ariat National Adult Medal on Friday morning of week twelve at the FTI WEF. Ballinger and Wanderprinz were the final pair to enter the ring, earning a high score of 86 to return for the test.
The top four riders were called back for further testing. Meredith Combs was first to test, scoring an 82 with Cassius in the first round before ultimately finishing second. Third place went to Emma Butchard and Conquest. The pair earned an 83 in the first round. Barri Platt completed the top four aboard Avanti Maria, scoring an 85 in the first round and finishing fourth overall.
Ballinger has owned Wanderprinz since she imported him as a four-year-old. Seven years later, the pair has developed a close bond. Ballinger prides herself on the fact that she does all of the care for Wanderprinz and her other horse, Pizzaro, who she competes in the jumper divisions.
Wanderprinz also started out as a jumper, but a lack of speed led Ballinger to experiment with the adult equitation divisions. The dark bay gelding took it well, and the two have forged a fruitful equitation career together. Ballinger won the Ariat National Adult Medal during week eight of the FTI WEF, in addition to division champion in the Adult Equitation division.
Wanderprinz may have left the jumper ring behind, but the skills he learned in the jumper divisions groomed him for success as an equitation mount.
“The jumpers really helped with all the turns. He knows when he lands to pay attention to me for where to go, since it’s not always straight [down the line],” Ballinger explained.
Ballinger was thrilled with her first round course, commenting, “The first round was great. I loved the course. It was an actual equitation course. I thought it was super.”
Of her plan for her course, Ballinger said, “[I wanted] to stay smooth and kind of round all the turns. Just keep a nice pace the whole way, keep the same pace. I think keeping the same pace, like the plan was, really helped [in getting called back to test]. Also executing the corners correctly. We’ve been practicing that, especially this week.”
As the last rider to go, Ballinger, who trains with Lourdes De Guardiola, wasn’t able to get in any extra practice before returning to the ring right away to test. The judge asked riders to canter fences one and two, where they had the option to tighten the sweeping left turn. Riders then continued turning left to trot fence three, a brick wall, before having a tight right turn to hand gallop fence four. Riders where then asked to halt and return to line at the sitting trot.
Ballinger felt confident after hearing the test, remaining focused on maintaining a good rhythm even if it meant sacrificing handier turns.
“Sometimes I have a little trouble leaving the line with the same pace. That’s why I stayed out a little bit to the first jump. I didn’t cut the turn. I’d rather stay out a little and sacrifice that, but get the pace,” she shared.
Ballinger’s ultimate goal for the week is the Beval Palm Beach Adult Medal Final on Sunday. Hunter and equitation competition continues on Saturday at the FTI WEF with the Hunt Ltd. Amateur-Owner Hunter Over 35 division in the E. R. Mische Grand Hunter Arena. For full results, please visit www.showgroundslive.com.
About FTI Consulting, Inc.
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 4,000 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 $1.58 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2012. For more information, visit www.fticonsulting.com.
About the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival
The 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of top competition running from January 8 through March 30. 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.
