Georgina
Bloomberg Bests International Field in $25,000 WEF Challenge
Cup VI
Wellington, FL – March 1, 2007 – Georgina
Bloomberg scored her first major victory of the year
by winning the $25,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round VI on
Thursday, March 1. Part of the CSI-W Zada Enterprises,
LLC Wellington Masters, the competition marked the sixth
week of show jumping at the Winter Equestrian Festival
in Wellington, FL.
An impressive group comprised of 67 horse-rider combinations
attempted the track set by Olympic course designer Leopoldo
Palacios who designed in 2000 in Sydney and will have
the honors again in 2008 in Hong Kong. The Venezuelan
mastermind was at the top of his game, and the judges
even increased the time allowed from 87 to 89 seconds
to give the riders a better chance of jumping penalty-free.
As the ninth rider into the ring, 2001 World Cup Champion
Markus Fuchs made a clear round look easy, stopping
the clock at 84.75 seconds with La Toya III. Grand Prix
partners since 2003, Fuchs and the sensitive 12-year-old
Belgian Warmblood mare have enjoyed vast international
success together, including helping Switzerland to earn
the Team Silver Medal at the 2005 European Championships.
Three more riders would leave all the rails in the cups,
only to discover that they failed to cross the finish
line in under 89 seconds. Todd Minikus stopped the clock
at 89.24 seconds riding Pavarotti, Michael Walton and
La Rocco Jun came heart-breaking close with a time of
89.05 seconds and Canada's Eric Lamaze and Ronaldo suffered
the same fate of one time penalty when they jumped clear
in a time of 90.03 seconds.
Just as it looked like there wouldn't be a jump-off,
Bloomberg, sixth from the end of the order, put in a
neat and tidy clear round performance, signaling to
the Swiss rider, who had only just arrived in Wellington,
that his victory would have to be earned.
 Fuchs
led the two-horse jump-off, setting off at a blistering
pace. A tight turn to fence 9a of the double looked
impressive until Fuchs paid the price of a fallen rail.
Almost home, Fuchs also had the final fence down, the
JustWorld International signature fence, to give him
a total of eight faults in a time of 40.14 seconds.
Bloomberg followed, going for a slow and steady round
over the shortened eight-fence track. She successfully
posted a double clear round in a time of 50.54 seconds
to take home the winner's check of $7,500.
"I needed this win for barn morale," joked
Bloomberg, who had not won a grand prix since 2005.
While she may have been suffering a dry spell, Bloomberg
is no stranger to the winner's circle in the WEF Challenge
Cup Series. In 2005, she won back-to-back WEF Challenge
Cups - the final one held in Wellington, FL, and the
first one held in Tampa, FL.
As for the secret to her success in Thursday's WEF Challenge
Cup Round VI, Bloomberg chalked it up to luck. "When
we walked the course, it didn't look big, it was just
good course designing. I got lucky today!"
Going second in the jump-off was lucky as well as Bloomberg
got to watch Fuchs negotiate the course and adjust her
plan accordingly.
"I was able to watch Markus go, and I was expecting
to have to gallop the jump-off course," said the
24-year-old New York City native. "When he had
two down, then I changed my strategy."
Making her victory extremely gratifying was that her
partner was Nadia, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare
sired by Indoctro.
"She's the first young horse that I brought along,"
Bloomberg said. "I bought her when she was about
five, so it is very rewarding to have a horse like that,
a horse that I didn't just buy as a grand prix horse.
She's light on her feet, a light type with a lot of
blood, and very honest."
While Fuchs settled for second in the $25,000 WEF Challenge
Cup Round VI, the Swiss rider is sure to be a force
to be reckoned with as the final three weeks of the
Winter Equestrian Festival in the Wellington location
continue.
Results of Class 101 - $25,000 WEF Challenge Cup VI
- CSI-W Zada Enterprises Wellington Masters - March
1, 2007
T/A: 89.00 T/A: 52.00
1 2168 NADIA GEORGINA BLOOMBERG USA 0.00 85.74 0.00
50.54 $7500 GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES
2 2765 LA TOYA III MARKUS FUCHS SUI 0.00 84.75 8.00
40.14 $5500 JURI ADOLFO
3 2903 LA ROCCO JUN MICHAEL WALTON USA 1.00 89.05 $3250
PENLYN FARM
4 2841 PAVAROTTI TODD MINIKUS USA 1.00 89.24 $2000 TODD
MINIKUS LTD
5 1480 RONALDO ERIC LAMAZE CAN 1.00 90.03 $1500 ASHLAND
STABLES
6 1463 NALLA COURTNEY VINCE CAN 4.00 83.21 $1250 PEBBLE
CREEK HOLDINGS
7 2761 HOOLIGAN DE ROSYL DANIEL DEUSSER GER 4.00 83.75
$1000 STAL TOPS
8 3079 LARIOSO MCLAIN WARD USA 4.00 83.89 $750 WARD
& BLUE CHIP BLOODSTOCK
9 2773 IVOIRE DU ROUET FRANCOIS MATHY BEL 4.00 84.99
$750 INGRID NORMAN
10 959 GLASGOW NORMAN DELLO JOIO USA 4.00 85.58 $500
GLASGOW GROUP
11 2536 OKIDO CODY AUER USA 4.00 86.11 $500 CODY AUER
12 960 MALCOLM NORMAN DELLO JOIO USA 4.00 87.10 $500
MALCOLM GROUP
13 2909 CAVALOR CATESKO LAURIE BUCCI CAN 4.00 87.31
$500 SOUTH SHORE FARM
14 559 OBELIX R LISA SILVERMAN USA 4.00 87.38 $500 LISA
SILVERMAN
15 2470 VICOMTE D MOLLY ASHE USA 4.00 87.76 $500 JANE
F. CLARK
Jennifer Ward for Phelps Media Group,
Inc. International
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