Articles: Press Release
Smith Topples Skelton as Great Britain Reigns Supreme in the $100,000
Zada Enterprises, LLC Masters Cup at the Winter Equestrian Festival
PHOTO CREDIT: Robert Smith and Gerry Maguire take $100,000 Zada Masters
Cup at WEF. Photo by Randi Muster
Kenneth Kraus of Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at email@example.com
Wellington, Fl - February 26, 2006 - A quick-moving early morning storm
front was the precursor to further overcast skies and much cooler
temperatures for Sunday afternoon's $100,000 Zada Enterprises, LLC
Masters Cup at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington. However,
the crowd that braved the elements and stuck it out were treated to a
dandy of a jump-off in the main event at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian
In the end, it came down to the "Battle of Britain," as Robert Smith and
Gerry Maguire raced past Nick Skelton and Arko III for the hard fought
Sixty starters gathered for the 2 p.m. event, scored under FEI Rules for
World Cup (Art. 655) and FEI Rules for Jumping, Table A mixed. Article
238.2.2. Time First Jump-off. Venezuela's Leopoldo Palacios-Jugo
designed today's $100,000 Masters Cup challenge.
Nine horse and rider combinations qualified for the timed jump-off with
first round clears. Fifteen riders had a single rail down for four
faults, while another seventeen duos had two knockdowns. Nine had more
than eight, and four were eliminated or withdrew.
The jump-off field featured a single American rider doing battle against
eight foreign competitors for the top prize.
Eric Lamaze of Canada and Torrey Pine Stable's Hickstead had the
drawback of returning in the first spot in the jump-off, but did not for
a moment let that stop them from laying down a fantastic trip with a
very fast time. Lamaze never let up and raced home with a clear go in
39.97 seconds, a time that would hold up for the third place finish.
Belgium's Eric Flameng and Roxanne, owned by Floriac, LLC, also produced
a tiebreaker clear, but clocked in at 42.65 seconds, well behind Lamaze.
Another clear followed immediately from Leopold Van Asten of the
Netherlands. Aboard VDL Groep Fleche Rouge, owned by Stoetery Duyselhof,
Van Asten moved ahead of Flameng with a clear go in 42.14 seconds.
Francois Mathy of Belgium returned next with Calmero Orion. Mathy topped
Lamaze's time by 2/10ths of a second, but knockdowns at fences 8 and 12
on the speed course produced a score of eight faults. His time was 39.79
Nick Skelton and the fabulous stallion Arko III took over the top spot
with a brilliant ride. Skelton met every spot perfectly and managed to
shave 4/10ths of a second off of the Canadian's time, coming home in
39.48 seconds to take the lead.
The lone American rider in the jump-off, Laura Kraut and the Summit
Syndicate's Anthem challenged next. Kraut appeared to be on a pace to
take the lead, but Anthem dropped a rail at 11b and then another right
away at 12. Kraut then let off the gas, but still managed to trip the
timers in 39.89 seconds.
Canada's Mario Deslauriers and Naomi also had two rails down (8-9) and
his final time was 42.51 seconds.
Then it was time for Robert Smith and Gerry Maguire. Winners of the
tremendously fast Acorn Hill Speed Challenge on Friday, the duo put in
another stellar performance against the clock, racing home 9/10ths of a
second faster than countryman Skelton for the win. Smith broke the beams
in an incredible 38.54 seconds.
Yann Candele of France with Tyra, owned by Ashland Stables, wrapped up
the class with three knockdowns. Their twelve fault score was
accompanied by a time of 41.85 seconds.
"It's our first week here, and we couldn't get a much better start
really," smiled Smith following the win today. "I thought it was a quite
difficult course with a lot of very good horses in the class. It was a
clever course. And the ground was very good, it held up beautifully
today. And I think he got a crackin' jump-off as a result," he said.
"I knew Nick was quick," Smith detailed. "And I had nothing really to
lose. My horse was jumping good and felt really well, so I thought I'd
give it a bit of a go. I know he's really quick, that horse of mine.
He's a real blood type and he's fast, so I was all to giving him a
chance to win," he said with a smile. "He's a really useful horse. I've
not jumped him in many grand prixs. He's only won a small grand prix
over in England, but he does everything and does everything pretty well.
He does the Puissance, Table C's, Knockouts, he's won virtually every
class I've been in with him."
Skelton was pleased with today's outcome as well. "I thought the course
was big enough. With sixty horses in it and nine clear rounds, I think
he (Palacios) got a good result," he said. "And the jump-off was, I
thought, a very galloping track, so obviously it favored a horse with a
big stride galloping to single jumps. I was well pleased with my horse.
He jumped really good, and I can't complain. He jumped in Dubai and then
went to Zurich in January, so this is his first time out since then, so
I have to be pleased."
Asked following today's class if this is an ongoing rivalry, Smith said,
"Always! But a rivalry between everybody really. If you didn't feel and
ride like that, you wouldn't be any good anyway."
Smith continued to offer praise for the Winter Equestrian Festival and
President Gene Mische in particular. "It's a bit of a hike to get over
here, but Gene Mische has made it possible for us to come over, and I
hope it pays off for everybody," he said. "For me and Nick, it's a great
time of the year to come over here because we've been to all the indoor
shows. So, to get a few of the great riders over from Europe to compete
here is a nice break for us." And he added with a grin, "I hope it gives
everybody something different to write about."
Skelton offered his review of WEF, "I think it's very good. This arena
is amazing. It holds up really well. With the amount of horses that have
jumped out here over the past five weeks, it's pretty incredible really.
And the other outside show rings are excellent. It's been really good
for my young horses here."
Today's $100,000 Zada Enterprises, LLC Masters Cup was the tenth of
fourteen qualifying events for the FTI Rider Challenge, a rider bonus
pool for $200,000 in which the riders receive points based on the number
of riders in the seven Thursday and seven Sunday Grand Prix events that
are part of the WEF Wellington series. For Mario Deslauriers, his eighth
place finish today should move him right near the top of the FTI
standings with only four classes to go.
Today's Masters Cup was also one of only two remaining U.S. East Coast
League World Cup Qualifying events. With a seventh and eleventh place
finish today, Laura Kraut and McLain Ward further secured their spots on
the roster for the World Cup Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Chris
Kappler and Christine McCrea, both below the cut for the World Cup
Finals before the class, finished in the top sixteen today and should
move into contention for one of those final seven spots. The last
qualifying event is the Grand Prix of Tampa in March.
Next week, the CN Worldwide Wellington Open, presented by Cosequin CSI
5*, includes the debut of the CN Worldwide Global Champions Tour on
Sunday March 5, 2006. International riders from around the globe have
converged on South Florida for the start of this new and dynamic
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Columbia,
Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands,
Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom are
some of the nations from the around the world that have show jumping
representatives in Wellington.
Ten or more of those countries are expected to compete in the 2006
Nations' Cup, presented by CN. This is one of the must-see events of the
season for any equerstrian enthusiast. It will be contested under the
lights on Friday, March 10th, during the CN Wellington Finale CSIO 5*,
and it marks the fifth time that the Winter Equestrian Festival will
host this prestigious international event. The Nations' Cup pits teams
of show jumpers from multiple countries against each other in two rounds
of exciting competition.
Results of Class 100 $100,000 Zada Enterprises Master Cup CSI-W - Zada
Enterprises Wellington Masters CSI 3* - Internationale Arena - 2/26/06
1 3606 ROBERT SMITH GBR GERRY MAGUIRE 0.00 83.94 0.00 38.54 $30000
BROOK FURLONG FARM
2 3360 NICK SKELTON GBR ARKO III 0.00 81.85 0.00 39.48 $22000
3 1869 ERIC LAMAZE CAN HICKSTEAD 0.00 82.46 0.00 39.97 $13000
TORREY PINES STBLE
4 3302 LEOPOLD VAN ASTEN NED VDL GROEP FLECHE ROUGE 0.00 80.77 0.00
5 536 ERIC FLAMENG BEL ROXANNE 0.00 80.48 0.00 42.65 $6000
6 3180 FRANCOIS MATHY BEL CALMERO ORION 0.00 82.19 8.00 39.79 $5000
7 1236 LAURA KRAUT USA ANTHEM 0.00 81.67 8.00 39.89 $4000
8 1362 MARIO DESLAURIERS CAN NAOMI 0.00 82.06 8.00 42.51 $3000
9 1883 YANN CANDELE CAN TYRA 0.00 80.94 12.00 41.85 $3000
10 1493 MARKUS BEERBAUM GER CONSTANTIN 24 4.00 78.34 $2000
11 561 MCLAIN WARD USA GOLDIKA 559 4.00 78.39 $2000
DOUBLE H FARM
12 1613 LAURA CHAPOT USA LITTLE BIG MAN 4.00 78.83 $2000
13 1182 ANNE KURSINSKI USA ROXANA 112 4.00 80.52
T14 41 CHRIS KAPPLER USA VDL ORANTA 4.00 80.89
T14 1530 MEGAN LAMAZE USA OLLANDAISE 4.00 80.89
16 1011 CHRISTINE MCCREA USA PROMISED LAND 4.00 81.43
Jack Hardin Towell Takes Junior Jumper Show Jumping Hall of Fame Classic
The early morning feature on Sunday was the $10,000 Show Jumping Hall of
Fame Junior Jumper Classic. Due to inclement weather, the class was
moved to the schooling ring of the Internationale Arena in order to save
the grass footing for the grand prix later that day.
The class was a Time First Jump-off, Table II, Sec. 2(a) and was
designed by Leopoldo Palacios-Jugo of Venezuela.
Thirty-four entries went to post in the class, and nine were clear to
advance to the timed round. First to return in the second round was Jack
Hardin Towell Jr. and Iago Du Quesnoy. They set a pace that could not be
matched and came away with their first WEF classic win.
Towell purchased the chestnut gelding only last September from Irish
Olympian Kevin Babington. He described, "I've done him in the High
Junior Jumpers and a few grand prix, but I'd like to start doing him in
some bigger classes."
"When I heard they were going to move the class to the schooling ring, I
thought that would be the best for my horse," Towell recalled with a
smile. "He's really good indoors, and it was a little bit like indoors.
The turns came up quick."
Towell knew that going first in the jump-off, he would have to go fast
and clean in order to finish well. "I thought I had nothing to lose," he
replied. "Aimee Aron and Addison Phillips and all the rest had to go
after me, and I was just a little bit faster than them. I was ready to
win today, and so was he."
Official Results: Class 1055, $10,000 High Junior Jumper Classic, Time
First Jump-off, Table II, Sec. 2(a), Internationale Arena
1. Iago du Quesnoy, Jack Hardin Towell Jr.
2. Flight, Addison Phillips
3. Felix des Noues, Julie Welles, Missy Clark
4. Jamaica, Aimee Aron, Kinloch Enterprises
5. Riant, Carolyn Kelly, Lulu Equestrian Enterprises
6. VDL Lotus Excel, Hillary Dobbs, Maggie Ferguson
7. Kitty 41, Miasha Fisher, Falcon Farm LLC
8. Gillehammer, Miasha Fisher, Falcon Farm LLC
9. Action, Sloane Coles, Gotham Enterprizes
10. Ratina Z, Carolyn Kelly, Lulu Equestrian Enterprises
11. Rosanne van de Withoeve, Maria Schaub, Abigail Carpenter
12. Cartier, Haylie Jayne, Alex R. Jayne