The 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF)began its fourth week of competition on Wednesday with a win for Colombia's Roberto Teran, Jr. and Chanel in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class. The FTI WEF, held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL, features 12 weeks of world-class competition through March 30, awarding $8 million in prize money.
Venezuela's Leopoldo Palacios is the course designer in the International Arena at PBIEC for week four competition. The week kicked off with the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class and a win for Robert Teran, Jr. aboard Chanel, owned by Chehebar, Simhon, and Blue Star Investments. The pair completed the fastest of nine clear rounds out of 41 entries in 70.32 seconds.
Stephan Barcha (BRA) and Quizas Diamant finished second in 70.49 seconds. Alexa Pessoa (USA) and Rodrigo Pessoa's Levade 35 placed third in 73.30 seconds, and Benjamin Meredith (AUS) placed fourth in 74.53 seconds aboard River Farm Sporthorses' Harley 86.
Teran purchased his winning mount, Chanel, eight months ago from fellow Colombian rider, Daniel Bluman. The 10-year-old KWPN mare by Chin Chin x Damiro has learned a lot in her time with Teran and started this year's FTI WEF off very well. The mare finished second in a split 1.40m class last week with 123 entries in total and now got her first win of the circuit.
"We just started last week, and this week she is ready to rock and roll," Teran smiled. "She is careful, scopey, and very clever. She has been improving tremendously since the last year, and now she is going to be one of my top grand prix horses very soon."
"Sometimes she gets a little anxious when she comes to the ring, and we have been working a lot on getting her to relax and trust," Teran said of Chanel. "She is super careful, but sometimes when she comes to different venues, she needs to relax the first couple of days and then she is ready to compete and win."
Commenting on Wednesday's course, he noted, "Today was a very careful, technical round. There were many rollback turns. Early on, you needed to be on to have a good time and she behaved super. She is getting a lot better and the rideablity is getting better every week, so I am extremely happy with her."
Teran came to Wellington for the first time in 2000 and then spent several years competing in Ocala before returning to the FTI WEF three years ago. Teran has some great new horses and looks forward to an exciting circuit. He thanked his owners and trainer Tracey Jackson for their help and support.
"Tracey supervises the health of the horses, and she is with me every single step of the way," Teran acknowledged. "We are very happy because all of our horses are winning like crazy this year!"
Teran also acknowledged the great competition at the FTI WEF that pushes them to do their best. "The horse show is top level," Teran stated. "Your level as a rider improves week by week by showing with all of these top riders. That is why we are here, to improve as riders and to be competitive around the world."
A $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m speed class was also held on Wednesday with a win for Hector Florentino (DOM) and Anemone's Vicky, owned by Stransky's Mission Farms, Inc. The $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m jump-off class was won by Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and Spy Coast Farm LLC's Eregast van't Kiezelhof to conclude the day.
Week four of the 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival will continue on Thursday with the $34,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 4 in the International Arena at 1 p.m. For full results, go to www.showgroundslive.com.
Final Results: $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Speed
Horse, rider, owner
1. CHANEL ROBERTO TERAN CHEHEBAR, SIMHON & BLUE STAR INVESTMENTS: 0/70.321
2. QUIZAS DIAMANT STEPHAN BARCHA STEPHAN BARCHA: 0/70.496
3. LEVADE 35 ALEXA PESSOA RODRIGO PESSOA: 0/73.308
4. HARLEY 86 BENJAMIN MEREDITH RIVER FARM SPORTHORSES: 0/74.531
5. ONISHA KATIE PRUDENT MICHAEL SMITH: 0/76.290
6. ROMANTOVICH TAKE ONE CHRISTINE MCCREA CANDY TRIBBLE: 0/77.387
7. GANJANA NICHOLAS DELLO JOIO NATHALIE DE GUNZBURG: 0/79.290
8. STATUS RODRIGO PESSOA PESSOA STABLES LLC: 0/80.251
9. ADARE REBECCA CONWAY BLUE HILL FARM LLC: 0/80.674
10. CITIZENGUARD CADJANIN RODRIGO PESSOA ALAIN VAN CAMPENHODUT: 3/84.382
11. ZEALOUS LAURA CHAPOT MARY CHAPOT: 4/69.113
12. FINEMAN SHANE SWEETNAM SWEET OAK FARM: 4/71.927
© Jennifer Wood Media Inc./ photo: Sportfot
