Simon McCarthy and Gotcha.

Wellington, FL (February 4, 2021) – A chilly, windy, and sunny Florida winter day kicked off week 5 on The Ridge at Wellington Turf Tour, where 21 horses and riders tackled Wednesday’s top class, the $5,000 1.30m Rising Star Classic. Simon McCarthy and Gotcha captured the top prize in the Rising Star, jumping to victory on the beautiful expanded grass Grand Prix field at The Ridge at Wellington’s home farm.

Simon McCarthy and Gotcha delivered an untouchable double clear round, with just under a tenth of a second separating his jump-off time from the second place challenger, Wilton J. Porter and Heike Es. Olympic course designer Leopoldo Palacios set an impressive course on The Ridge’s home field. Starting with a single vertical rollback to a wall, the challenge only grew from there, with a bending line to the Horseflight oxer following the wall. Riders then rolled back to a triple combination, before galloping to a lone oxer followed by a bending line vertical, skinny bicycle jump, in-and-out vertical to oxer combination, and a liverpool oxer. Ending with a two-stride vertical and oxer combination, the course yielded seven double clears. McCarthy and Gotcha cliched the win with a jump-off time of 43.859 seconds, with Porter and Heike Es nipping at his heels in a time of 43.984. Carly Anthony and Sun Song finished 3rd with a time of 43.113 seconds.

For full results, visit www.HorseShowing.com.

For more info, visit www.RidgeShowJumping.com.