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Lauren Hough and Casadora Faultless in $60,000 Wellington Cup Win at Winter Equestrian Festival

Wellington, FL – February 5, 2006 – On a beautiful Super Sunday at the 2006 Winter Equestrian Festival, Lauren Hough and Casadora produced the only clear round in the jump-off to ride away with the top prize in the main event, the $60,000 Wellington Cup, presented by Carlisle, CSI 3*. The Sunday action wrapped up the second week of competition at the nine week long equestrian extravaganza being held at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Florida.

Forty-five starters took the field for the 2 p.m. kick off. Today’s scoring was FEI Art. 238.2.2, Time First Jump-Off. 2004 Athens Olympic Course Designer Olaf Petersen of Germany designed today’s challenge.

There were four clear rounds that advanced to the tiebreaker. Another twelve competitors had a single knockdown, while nine horse and rider combinations had two down. Twelve duos had more than eight, and eight competitors were either eliminated or chose to withdraw.

Through the first eighteen challengers, the best score anyone could muster was four faults, a total posted by six of those eighteen starters.

Riding out of the nineteenth spot in today’s posted order, Kimberly Prince and Overlook Farm’s Couletto K. James were the first to master the track. They were joined five horses later by Little Big Man and owner/rider Laura Chapot. Then quickly, three horses following that, Lauren Hough added the Laura Mateo entry of Casadora to the jump-off roster, and the speed phase was set when eight horses later, McLain Ward and Sapphire from the Double H Farm became the final entry for today’s tiebreaker.

Prince and Couletto K. James returned first against the clock. Pulling a single rail over the short course, Prince clocked in at 39.41 seconds.

Laura Chapot and Little Big Man also had four faults on their jump-off ride, but topped Prince’s time, as they raced home in 35.47 seconds to take the lead with two to go.

Lauren Hough and Casadora were the next to challenge and were up to the task. Opting for an efficient yet careful ride, Hough tripped the timers in 37.84 seconds, but most importantly, without penalty.

McLain Ward and Sapphire pulled a rail coming home and slid into the third spot with a four fault time that was not quite fast enough to catch Chapot. Ward’s finish time was 36.66 seconds.

“McLain is a very, very fast rider,” explained Hough following today’s win. “That horse though maybe isn’t the fastest horse in the world, so I wanted to make sure I was clear. I knew I was a bit cautious and if he would go clear he would probably beat my time. I took a bit of a chance where I could,” she said, “but I took my time to 10a and to the blue oxer coming home. Thankfully, it paid off.”

“She’s a fantastic horse. She’s a real winner,” Hough said of Casadora. “She had quite a lot of success at the end of last year and was a big part of the Samsung Super League final win at Barcelona. I got a little bit unlucky this fall. I kept having a lot of really nice four fault rounds,” she laughed. “I had the first fence down in the WEF Challenge Cup on Thursday, a stupid rail, but the rest she jumped beautifully, so I knew I was very close to her coming into form.” Hough went on to explain, “My focus with her is the World Championships later this year, so I feel very good about her jumping so well on this field with the selection trials coming up later this circuit. So now, I have to plan it accordingly because she feels in form, and I don’t want to do too much.”

Chapot talked about her jump-off strategy following her second place finish. “In the position I was in, going second with two very fast horses behind me, I really had to take a chance,” she admitted. “I cut the turn a little bit and the only thing there was a little tight, and he just caught the front rail. He tried really hard to get over it anyway, but it just didn’t work out.”

Both Hough and Chapot thought today’s course was a real challenge. “When I walked it, I thought it was quite difficult,” said Hough. “I didn’t think it was un-jumpable, but I thought it was a real thinking course for the rider. There were a lot of questions in a lot of places. I thought it was a well done course.”

Chapot agreed. “I thought it was a very difficult course with a lot of technical problems in it, and it was certainly sizable enough for this time of the year,” she said.

Hough ended with some kind words for her winning mare. “We’ve been successful since we started together, and I have very high hopes for her. She’s still quite young, but I think she’s a real championship horse.”

Today’s $60,000 Wellington Cup is the fourth qualifying event 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.

Results of Class 100 $60,000 Wellington Cup CSI*** presented byCarlisle - Gold Coast Jumper Classic Presented by Carlisle CSI*** February 5, 2006

1 1694 LAUREN HOUGH USA CASADORA 0.00 87.22 0.00 37.84 $18000
LAURA MATEO
2 2702 LAURA CHAPOT USA LITTLE BIG MAN 0.00 77.80 4.00 35.47 $13200
LAURA CHAPOT
3 1269 MCLAIN WARD USA SAPPHIRE 0.00 83.35 4.00 36.66 $7800
DOUBLE H FARM
4 183 KIMBERLY PRINCE USA COULETTO K. JAMES 0.00 84.23 4.00 39.41 $4800
OVERLOOK FARM
5 2756 TODD MINIKUS USA FLIER 4.00 78.94 $3600
HARRY R. GILL
6 2377 MARGIE ENGLE USA HIDDEN CREEK'S WAPINO 4.00 80.85 $3000
HIDDEN CREEK FARM
7 366 JAIME GUERRA MEX RMW POWER POINT 4.00 81.05 $2400
ROCKYMT WARMBLOODS
8 2287 MARIO DESLAURIERS CAN NAOMI 4.00 81.08 $1800
MARIO DESLAURIERS
9 214 ANGELA K. MOORE USA CLAUS 4.00 82.68 $1800
STEALAWAY FARM
10 3295 CONOR SWAIL IRL PONCHO 4.00 82.90 $1200
SYNDICATE PONCHO
11 1809 ASHLEY FLEISCHHACKER USA TEMPETE V/H LINDEHOF 4.00 85.37 $1200
ASHLAND STABLES
12 1271 ERYNN BALLARD CAN ROBIN VAN ROOSENDAEL 4.00 85.59 $1200
LOOKING BACK FARM

PHOTO CREDIT: Lauren Hough and Casadora win Wellington Cup. Photo by Debra Jamroz/The Professionals

Laura Chapot and Lauren Hough