Eduardo Menezes (BRA) and H5 Elvaro © Sportfot.

Wellington, FL – April 16, 2021 – As the 2021 ESP Spring Series continues on the grass Derby Field at Equestrian Village, it was a day for Brazil to shine as Eduardo Menezes guided H5 Elvaro, owned by H5 Sport Horses, LLC, to a spectacular winning finish in the $37,000 JTWG Qualifier CSI3*.

First to return, Menezes and the 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion by Calvaro F.C. x Heartbreaker produced a fault-free round in a time of 38.65 seconds. While the execution of the second-round course was quite technical, Menezes credits his success to having a very simple plan.

“Going first, you need to go as fast as you can and try to leave the jumps up,” he said. “We had a couple of lines where I could use his big stride and leave one [stride] out. I started with that in the first line and once it worked, I just stayed on that rhythm.”

Jennifer Bliss and Face the Music Are Unbeatable in the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby

A total of 49 horse-and-rider combinations contested the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby presented by Perfect Products held in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) on Friday morning. Entering the ring as the 18th to go in the starting order, Jennifer Bliss and Face the Music, owned by Harris Hill Farm, LLC, galloped smoothly over fences one through 12, jumping all four of the high options, to finish on an impressive score of 96 and lead the classic round.

The top twelve pairs were invited back to contest a handy round with a cut-off score of 86.5 making for a very competitive finish. Last to go, Bliss of Loxahatchee, FL was smooth once again as she posted a score of 100, which included bonus points for handiness, making her two-round total 196 points to secure the win.

For more information and results, please visit www.PBIEC.com.