For the last leg of Wellington International’s Annual Series, the $10,000 1.40m Bainbridge Companies Welcome kicked off the week on a high note. American course designer Anthony D’Ambrosio, who was designing for the International Ring during the week, threw down a challenge to the riders: a thirteen-jump round followed by a six-jump jump-off. Eleven riders advanced directly to round two after winning round one. Joao Carvalho of Brazil started the shortened circuit sixth, which gave him time to observe the riders in front of him. In a timing of 36.224 seconds, Carvalho and Evergreen Stables LLC’s And Action finished the jump-off without any errors. Alvaro Tejada (GUA) on Andrea Muller’s One Eleven 111 won the red-rosette with a clean time of 38.087, followed by Nikko Ritter (USA) in third.
Ring 7 hosted the $5,000 National Hunter Derby, sponsored by Perfect Products, on Friday afternoon, setting the stage for hunter competition. Sara Hogan’s Sandstone was the rivalry that USA’s Geoffrey Hesslink defeated with scores of 88 and 91 for a total score of 179.
The American Lainie Wimberly, who led the class for most of it, took home the second-place ribbon. Wimberly finished with scores of 85 and 90 for a total of 175 but lost out when Hesslink, the final person to enter the ring, shot a perfect round. With a combined score of 174.5, Augusta Iwasaki and Small Safari, owned by Iwasaki & Reilly, from the USA, completed the podium.
On Saturday morning, the $5,000 1.35m Pilates Rocks Open Stake took place at the International Ring, making it the ultimate competition venue. Out of the fifteen athletes that tested the field, Abigail McArdle of the USA and I&H Boogy Woogy came out on top. McArdle and her horse, which belongs to Samuel Parot Jr., made every effort to win with a time of 36.245 seconds. With a time of 36.438 seconds, Taylor Land (USA) finished right behind her and shared second place with Pinetree Farms Inc.’s Falco V. With a time of 38.685 seconds, USA’s Alexis Bodo won the yellow ribbon with her own entry, Select’s London Calling Old.
On Saturday, the $1,000 Score At The Top 2’6″ – 2’9″ Hunter Derby was the last competition. There was a “Hunt and Go” structure to the class. Serena Theodoracopulos of the USA set the bar high for other riders to meet. Theodoracopulos scored an 87 in the classic phase and an 84 in the handy, totaling a 171 winning-score while riding on Cathy Sacher’s Permission. Lila Dubin (USA) and her own entry, Always Blue, settled into second place on the scoreboard with a classic score of 83 and a useful phase of 82 for a total score of 165. Tania Brooksby (USA) completed the podium with her own entry, Orlandino, scoring 164 overall.
In the final week of the Annual Series, on Sunday morning at the $50,000 Arion Sellier USA Grand Prix, Alex Granato (USA) felt the need for speed. Granato defeated thirty horse-and-rider competitors to steal the victory aboard Kisma Equestrian, LLC’s Helios VD Nosahoeve.
“I went quite early in the first round so I really just wanted to stick to my plan,” said Granato. “I didn’t really have anyone to watch with going fourth; I was busy warming up. In the jump-off I just really wanted to start with a strong pace. We walked that serpentine 1 to 2 to 3 so I had a good idea on the numbers I wanted to do. He’s quite a big strided horse so I wanted to start off strong so that I could leave a step out in those first two turns and then I could just keep that level pace for the rest of the round.”
With a commendable effort, Treesdale Farms’ Callagan and USA’s Kalvin Dobbs crossed the finish line in a swift 47.624 seconds. Due to an unfortunate rail, the two were the fastest 4-fault team, which put them in second place. USA’s Gwyneth Babington and Equi-Sport LLC.’s Conbago came in third place with a four-fault time of 48.082 seconds.
Major reporting contributions for this article were received from Wellington International in Wellington FL. Please visit Wellington International at https://wellingtoninternational.com.
