The last weekend of January proved to be cold and blustery, but the competition was hot at the World Equestrian Center-Ocala. However, the hottest hand belonged to Santiago Lambre, who won both the $75,000 Coors Light Grand Prix and the $10,000 Buckeye Nutrition Futures Prix on Saturday.
Santiago Lambre and Comtess 202 Win $75,000 Coors Light Grand Prix
An unusual cold snap moved the $75,000 Coors Light Grand Prix to an afternoon start time on Saturday, but the competition was hot as 32 competitors took to the course.
Eleven exhibitors jumped clear in the first round, but a tight jump-off course sent only three horses and riders clear. It was Santiago Lambre and Comtess 202 taking the win and earning the $22,500 first place prize. Their 81.761 first round time and 38.475 jump off lead could not be beat. Will Simpson showed Chacco P to second place and earned $16,500, with Peter Petschenig and It’s The Senator 111 taking third and $9,750.
“Comtess is a fantastic mare,” Santiago said of the 11 year old Westphalian mare. “I’ve had her for about a year now, and she’s done a few four star Grand Prixs, and she’s so careful. She pushes really hard with her hind end and she’s super fast off the ground.”
Being toward the end of the order in the jump-off allowed Santiago to establish a strategy for his jump off round. “I had watched a few horses go in the beginning and they were fast, but had rails down. I made sure to wait and think about the last oxer on the course, because that rail came down multiple times. I knew I had to be fast, but careful.”
Top ten results included:
1.Comtess 202, Santiago Lambre (BRA), Santiago Lambre: 0 | 0 | 38.475
2. Chacco P, Will Simpson (USA), Will Simpson: 0 | 0 | 39.284
3. It’s The Senator 111, Peter Petschenig (AUT), Peter Petschenig: 0 | 0 | 40.681
4. Gatsby, Sharn Wordley (NZL), Sharn Wordley: 0 | 0 | 41.012
5. Obi Wan, Aaron Vale (USA), Thinks Like A Horse: 0 | 4 | 38.179
6. Ennebel Van Het Posthuijs, Peter Petschenig (AUT), Brooke Peterson: 0 | 4 | 38.970
7. Cetano Van Aspergem Z, Santiago Lambre (BRA), Santiago Lambre: 0 | 4 | 38.988
8. Cristo Beech, Aaron Vale (USA), Thinks Like A Horse & Alise Carrico: 0 | 4 | 39.534
9. Essenar Crixus, Callan Solem (USA), Elan Farm: 0 | 4 | 41.495
10. Keoki, David Blake (IRL), Pine Hallow Farm: 0 | 4 | 43.400
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Santiago Lambre and Pampero Take $10,000 Buckeye Nutrition Future Prix
Earlier in the day on Saturday, Santiago guided Pampero to the win in the $10,000 Buckeye Nutrition Future Prix. With one of nine horse and rider combinations to go clear in the first round, Santiago and Pampero stopped the clock with 81.952 seconds to claim the win in the first round, and went directly to the jump off, stopping the clock at 40.190.
“This was his first time to show in the jump off,” Santiago said of the 12 year old Oldenburg gelding. “He just arrived on Wednesday from Mexico, and was in quarantine for seven days in Miami and came straight to WEC. My brother rode him in several three star Grand Prix in Mexico to get experience, and we felt he was ready to come here and show. I knew he was fast, because I had watched videos of my brother showing him. I might show in in next weeks’ Grand Prix, because he was fantastic to show today.”
Richie Moloney (IRL) and Equinimity LLC’s Merqusio (P. Cicero x M. Viola) snagged the second place spot in the class, while Megan Wexler and Golden Oaks Farm, LLC’s Cole Younger (Cayado x Stella VIII) rounded out the top three.
The top ten placings for the $10,000 Buckeye Nutrition Futures Prix included:
1.Pampero, Santiago Lambre, Santiago Lambre: 0 | 0 | 40.190
2. Merqusio, Richie Moloney, Equinimity LLC: 0 | 0 | 40.562
3. Coly Younger, Megan Wexler, Golden Oaks Farm, LLC: 0 | 0 | 41.061
4. Enrico Blue, Manuel Torres, Lara Gabrie: 0 | 0 | 41.118
5. WH Luciano, Beda Wachter, Beda Wachter: 0 | 0 | 41.515
6. Kilmastulla Quality Touch, Matthias Hollberg, Jenny Vallner: 0 | 0 | 42.263
7. Con Spirit, Nathalie Petschenig, Nathalie Petschenig: 0 | 0 | 42.749
8. VDL Edgar D’App Des Foret, Will Janssen, Ashland Show Stables LLC: 0 | 0 | 47.696
9. A D Reed, David Jennings, Elle Haymond: 0 | 4 | 39.634
10.Warnike, Callan Solem, Elan Farm: 4 | 82.185
Samantha Schaefer and In The Know Win WEC-Ocala 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby
Friday featured three Hunter Derby classes at WEC-Ocala.
Three high options in both the first and handy rounds allowed exhibitors in the 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby to pick their way through the course designed by Doug Russell, as 17 horses and riders competed for the win in the Hunter 1 arena.
Samantha Schaefer and her own horse, In The Know (Arkansas x Cavelle), earned the top scores and the first place paycheck of $6,000. “Spyder is just coming back after a break,” Samantha said. “His last show was in July. We did a few small practice classes yesterday, but today was his first day back in the Derby ring and he felt fantastic. We were going to show a little earlier, but we weren’t quite ready, and then when I saw the weather, we almost didn’t show this week, but I decided to stick to the plan and I’m glad we did.”
Samantha admitted she was a little conservative in her handy round. “I had this really fun, crazy plan, but I knew we had a decent lead, and it was his first class back. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.” The duo had earned a flawless first round and jumped each high option, earning a score of 91. Their flawless handy round included three high options that resulted in a score of 88, for an overall score of 179 for the top spot in the class.
MTM Farms representatives rounded out top three places in the class, with MTM Coco (Contendro I x T-Coriana) and Brian Feigus, showing for MTM Farms, earning second place with their overall score of 170, and Dorothy “Dorrie” Douglas and MTM Lolah LOL (Los Angeles x Palma), riding for Abigail Davenport, earning third with a total score of 168.
The top ten placings for the 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby included:
1.In The Know, Samantha Schaefer, Madeline Schaefer: 91 | 88 | 179
2. MTM Coco, Brian Feigus, MTM Farm: 83 | 87 | 170
3. MTM Lolah LOL, Dorothy Douglas, Abigail Davenport: 78 | 90 | 168
4. Cartel, Jeff Ayers, Jeff Ayers: 81.5 | 85 | 166.5
5. Comissario, Morgan Ward, Morgan Ward: 81 | 84 | 165
6. Carlios, Abi Russo, Maurah Burkholder: 77 | 78 | 155
7. Prosecco, Ilana Halpern, Devin Lanzone: 68 | 83 | 151
8. Happy Boy, Sonya Crampton, La Galerna: 66 | 73 | 139
9. Caligua, Clair Kellner, Suzanne Cayatte: 50 | 86 | 136
10. TJC’s Yo Gotti, Lauren Patterson, The Jaeckle Centre: 70 | 63 | 133
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Dorrie Douglas and Moose Win $15,000 WEC-Ocala 3’ Hunter Derby
The 3’ Open Hunter Derby saw MTM Exceptional (Casall Ask x Rheinsberg) and Dorothy “Dorrie” Douglas take the top spot in the class for owner Abigail Davenport, earning $4,500 for the win. The duo caught the judges’ eye and earned a combined score of 181 to take the win.
After earning the reserve award in the class during the first three weeks of the Ocala Winter Spectacular, the 13 year old Holsteiner gelding and Dorrie have been show partners for some time. “He is the longest partnership that I have ever had,” Dorrie said. “His owners purchased him when he was still a stallion in Europe. I am so thankful that we took the win today, because we’ve been the bridesmaid for a while.
“Moose was amazing during the handy round. The best part was the trot fence. He landed after the high option and saw his mom, Abigail, at the gate with cookies and came right down to the trot, jumped the log perfectly and streamlined right to her.”
Amanda Steege and Carero (Cabardino x Rio’s Lavita W), showing for Taylor Mitchell, captured the reserve champion award with a two-round score of 177, while Hillary Johnson and Moonwalk (Quasimodo Z x Olavsca-F), showing for Copper Fox LLC, rounded out the top three placings. The top ten placings included:
1. MTM Exceptional, Dorothy Douglas, Abigail Davenport: 90 | 91 | 181
2. Carero, Amanda Steege, Taylor Mitchell: 87 | 90 | 177
3. Moonwalk, Hillary Johnson, Cooper Fox LLC: 83 | 88 | 169
4. Blue Monday, Hillary Johnson, Stephanie Battershall: 85 | 83.5 | 168.5
5. MTM Walk It Out, Brian Feigus, Melissa Lee: 79.5 | 88 | 167.5
6. Balou Velvet, Amanda Steege, Feclicity Farms LLC: 84 | 83 | 167
7. Clovio DI Lachrifresco Z, Abi Russo, Cindy Bohn: 81 | 85 | 166
8. Aladdin, Jenny Miller, Jenny Miller: 80 | 81 | 161
9. Lucero, Allison Postier, Gretchen Vida: 79 | 78 | 157
10. Brego, Raffi Kechejian, Caroline Hart: 77.5| 79 | 156.5
Molly Braswell and Jalisco Take $15,000 WEC-Oala 3’ Junior/Amateur Hunter Derby
A relatively new show team took the top spot in the $15,000 WEC-Ocala 3’ Junior/Amateur Hunter Derby when Molly Braswell guided Jalisco to the win and a $4,500 first place payout. Taking all three high options in their first round, the duo earned a score of 87. Returning for the handy round, Molly and Jalisco again jumped all three high options during a seamless round that resulted in a score of 89, giving the pair an overall score of 176, which could not be beat.
“We just got him in November from Belgium,” Molly explained. “He is so easy to show. He doesn’t jump too hard and he never spooks. In the handy round, my plan was to just have a nice round. This was his first handy round every, so I just wanted to give him a good ride.”
The reserve team was Katalina Prusso, showing Camelot for Judy Kerr, whose first round score of 85 and handy round, in which they jumped all three options, netted a score of 86, resulting in a 171 total score. PS Copy That (Colman x Lavinja) and Sara Setian took third following a pretty first round that scored 81 and a gorgeous handy round with a score of 85, to earn a total score of 166.
The top ten placings in the $15,000 WEC-Ocala 3’ Junior/Amateur Hunter Derby included:
1. Jalisco, Molly Braswell, Molly Braswell: 87 | 89 | 176
2. Camelot, Katalina Prusso, Judy Kerr: 85 | 86 | 171
3. PS Copy That, Sara Setian, Sara Setian: 81 | 85 | 166
4. Fitz, Isabel Harbour, IMH Equine, LLC: 76 | 88 | 164
5. Folklore, Amberlea Tribble, Amberlea Tribble: 77 | 83 | 160
6. Balou Label, Molly Braswell, Molly Braswell 73 | 86 | 159
7. Lost Art, Isabel Harbour, IMH Equine, LLC: 78 | 81 | 159
8. Miss Ellie Z, Tamara Linde, Isabel Hall: 79 | 77 | 156
9. Dreamland, Addison Reed, Bridget Phillips: 76.5 | 71 | 147.5
10. Nykaenen, Averey-May Pritchard, Averey-May Pritchard: 80 | 67 | 147
The Style Of Riding Award
Also during the 3’ Hunter Derby, Jenny Miller, Jacksonville, Florida, was named the winner of this week’s the Style Of Riding Award, presented by Bill Rube. The Style of Riding Award is presented to the rider who best displays the American Style of riding in the ring and sportsmanship outside of the competition arena. The recipient serves as a role model for preserving the integrity and tradition of equestrian sport.
“This award is very unique to the World Equestrian Center,” Jenny said. “You’ll see a sportsmanship award at shows from time to time but it’s not like this one. This is a good reminder to always present yourself well and don’t get so caught up in the mechanics that you don’t think about how you look or act.”
Jenny received an elegant duffel bag and wore a pink rose corsage on her lapel throughout the handy round of the 3’ Hunter Derby to signify her achievement.
To view complete show results from the WEC-Ocala Winter Spectacular Show Series, please go to www.showmanagementsystem.com. To learn more about events at the World Equestrian Center-Ocala, please visit www.worldequestriancenter.com.
Futures Prix and $75,000 Coors Light Grand Prix photos courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.
