It was Beth Underhill and veteran mount Viggo that vaulted to the top of the leaderboard during the $25,000 Amberway Equine Welcome Stake at the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival Friday, winning the highlight event as the fastest of only four double clear efforts. The pair, hailing from Canada, broke the beam in 42.044 seconds to take home the lion's share of the earnings ahead of 22 contenders. Keith Bollotte designed the courses for the $25,000 Amberway Equine Welcome Stake, testing riders with a fair yet technical track. Faults were incurred throughout the 16-effort course, with only eight able to clear the opening round and move into the jump-off. Eventual winner Underhill said, "I thought Keith [Bollotte] did a really masterful job today. He had quite a few entries and he wanted to test the field. I thought it was a very fair track, but challenging. The jump-off was a really fun track to ride. There were places where you could gallop and you had to be careful, but all of his tracks have been fair and on point." David Beisel and Underhill were the busiest riders of the class, each qualifying with two mounts over the shortened course. Beisel was the first to test the 8-effort track with Ammeretto, owned by Equine Holdings LLC. The pair, known for their speed, did not disappoint in the race against the clock, posting the speedy time of 41.332 seconds. An unfortunate rail at the opening fence would cost them the victory, but give Beisel the opportunity to prepare for his second mount, Call Me Hannes. " I thought that the first round was fun, as it was a long course and the horses needed to stay focused," Beisel said. "Some of the horses got a little lost going to the last line, but they both jumped great in the first round. It was nice to have two in the jump-off because I got to feel where I wanted to go with the second horse, and I thought they both jumped great." Beisel and Call Me Hannes kicked off the week with a win in the 1.40m Open Jumpers, preparing for the $25,000 Amberway Welcome Stake and Sunday's $50,000 Grand Prix of Michigan. They duplicated their double-clear effort from earlier in the week, tripping the timers in 42.597 seconds today. Wilhelm Genn and Welcome COR, owned by Ann Anastasio, were the fastest of the four-faulters, earning the fifth place with the time of 41.035 seconds as the last to return for the jump-off. Beisel rounded out the top six with Ammeretto with his four-fault ride early on in the jump-off.
