HorseBuff Magazine – Showjumping, Winter Equestrian Festival, WEF #WEF2023
The pinnacle event of Thursday’s competition on the Equestrian Village derby field during the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) Week 4 was heavily populated with some of the sport’s best international competitors. Athletes representing eleven different nationalities lined up to contest Anderson Lima’s (BRA) first round track in the CHF50,000 CSI4* Adequan® WEF Challenge Cup Round 4.
From an original starting field consisting of 51 horse-and-rider combinations, 13 produced clean efforts to advance to the short course. No stranger to the winner’s circle, Mexico’s Santiago Lambre was at the bottom of the returning order but shot straight to the top to claim the day’s featured victory.
The field was full of top pairings as four-star classes took their turn on the stunning grass derby field in preparation for the weekend’s highly anticipated CIS4* Grand Prix, presented by MARS EQUESTRIAN. Lambre was one of eight entries to emerge fault-free throughout the two rounds but shaved mere milliseconds off the previous leading time to take the prime position. Aboard his recently acquired 13-year-old Hanoverian mare Casey (Caratani 4 x Grannus), Lambre breezed across the field and left all rails standing to overthrow previous leader Amanda Derbyshire (GBR) with a time of 36.60 seconds.
“This horse is quite new for me, I’ve only had her for eight months,” Lambre stated. “I jumped her on the grass two weeks ago for the first time and she did very good so I felt she was ready for this week.”
While she is new to his string, Lambre’s brother had Casey for several years in Mexico and Lambre believes she has all the makings to become an international star.
“She originally was competing in Mexico with my brother before she got sent to me last year,” he added. “I know the mare and she just needs some miles but she has proved that she is a fast horse and I think she is ready for the five-star next week.”
Derbyshire settled for second with her longtime partner Cornwall BH, a 15-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Con Air x Cambridge 8) owned by Gochman Sport Horses, LLC, with a finishing time of 36.91 seconds. Ashlee Bond added Israel to the ribboning results as she rounded out the top three on Aurora Farms, LLC, and Stal Horn’s 12-year-old KWPN gelding (Chellthago Z x Numero Uno) Garfield.
Major reporting contributions for this article were received from Wellington International in Wellington FL. Please visit Wellington International at https://wellingtoninternational.com.
