Smith
Topples Skelton as Great Britain Reigns Supreme in the
$100,000 Zada Enterprises, LLC Masters Cup at the Winter
Equestrian Festival
 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 Club.
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 victory.
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 seconds.
 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.”
Robert
Smith |
Nick
Skelton |
 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 worldwide
series.
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
NICK SKELTON
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 42.14 $8000
STOETERY DUYSELHOF
5 536 ERIC FLAMENG BEL ROXANNE 0.00 80.48 0.00 42.65
$6000
FLORIAC LLC
6 3180 FRANCOIS MATHY BEL CALMERO ORION 0.00 82.19 8.00
39.79 $5000
INGRID NORMAN
7 1236 LAURA KRAUT USA ANTHEM 0.00 81.67 8.00 39.89
$4000
SUMMIT SYNDICATE
8 1362 MARIO DESLAURIERS CAN NAOMI 0.00 82.06 8.00 42.51
$3000
MARIO DESLAURIERS
9 1883 YANN CANDELE CAN TYRA 0.00 80.94 12.00 41.85
$3000
ASHLAND STABLES
10 1493 MARKUS BEERBAUM GER CONSTANTIN 24 4.00 78.34
$2000
BERTRAM FIRESTONE
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
LAURA CHAPOT
13 1182 ANNE KURSINSKI USA ROXANA 112 4.00 80.52
SCOTT HAKIM
T14 41 CHRIS KAPPLER USA VDL ORANTA 4.00 80.89
M&K ORANTALLC
T14 1530 MEGAN LAMAZE USA OLLANDAISE 4.00 80.89
STONEY HILL
16 1011 CHRISTINE MCCREA USA PROMISED LAND 4.00 81.43
CANDY TRIBBLE
From
www.StadiumJumping.com
Photos:©professionalsphoto.com
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