The 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) hosted classics for the young jumpers on Friday during its twelfth and final week of competition at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. In the Adequan® 8-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic, Nick Dello Joio (USA) and Boomerang were the winners. Sloane Coles (USA) and WEC l'Ami Noir topped the the Adequan® 7-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic, and Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Dakota VDL won the Adequan® 6-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic.
Anthony D'Ambrosio (USA) set the tracks for Friday's young jumper classes in the International Arena at PBIEC. All of the classes were held with the option to either jump-off immediately following their round or wait until after the first round of competition. In the $20,000 Adequan® Eight-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic, 61 entries showed with eight to jump-off, and five double clear rounds. Nick Skelton (GBR) led the way with Aristio for most of the class, jumping off early in 38.60 seconds, but eventually moved into third place. Adam Prudent (FRA) jumped off after his round with Henri Prudent's Si Bella and briefly took the lead in 38.09 seconds, but was pushed into second. Nick Dello Joio (USA) chose to return for his jump-off round at the end, and took over for the win with Emilie Martinsen's Boomerang in 37.35 seconds.
Boomerang, a KWPN gelding by Orlando x Lux, is a horse that Martinsen rode last summer and then asked Dello Joio to ride with the idea to bring him along and sell. "I am privileged to ride him," Dello Joio stated after his win. "He is full of character. He is a small horse, but he has more scope and more range than any horse I think I have ever ridden. He is a bit cheeky and has a lot of personality. I think all of that combined is what makes him a super horse."
Commenting on the ride and his decision to wait to jump-off until the end, Dello Joio explained, "With horses like him, you always want to keep them a little bit under your thumb. You want to keep them with you and together. He's not a horse that you want to get off his back and let him do what he wants. You have to kind of work together, and that is when he is at his best, and his most focused."
"In the first round, maybe I left him a little bit too fresh," Dello Joio mused. "He is so gamey; he is so on it, so he finished the first round, and I thought I would just bring him out and let him chill. I wanted to re-school him and get his focus again, and then go back in and have a round like that, and it paid off."
Final Results: $20,000 Adequan® Eight-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic
1. BOOMERANG NICHOLAS DELLO JOIO EMILIE MARTINSEN: 0/0/37.355
2. SI BELLA ADAM PRUDENT HENRI PRUDENT: 0/0/38.090
3. ARISTIO NICK SKELTON JOHN HALES: 0/0/38.606
4. COOL DE REVE PETER LUTZ FURTHER LANE FARM LLC & DAVENPORT INC: 0/0/39.285
5. STREET HASSLE PARIS SELLON PARIS SELLON: 0/0/40.303
6. BALESTHA KIRSTEN COE ILAN FERDER: 0/4/40.847
7. BRIGHTLY MCLAIN WARD SAGAMORE FARMS: 0/8/37.739
8. GRAFTON DARRIN DLIN ARIEL AND SUSAN GRANGE: 0/8/40.116
9. BENTE ROOSJE BROUWER STAL THIJSSEN BV: 1/77.665
10. ACOBELLA COURTNEY BOYD CYNTHIA NIELSEN: 2/78.030
11. AMI DU HOUSSOIT ALEXA LOWE-WISEMAN WINDSOR FARM SALES: 4/68.829
12. SOORY DE L'HALLALI EIKEN SATO STEPHEX STABLES: 4/71.028
The Adequan® Seven-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic was featured at the FTI WEF on Friday afternoon with 20 out of 72 entries making it through to the jump-off and 13 double clear rounds over Anthony D'Ambrosio's short course. Early on, Sloane Coles (USA) and The Windwood Group's WEC l'Ami Noir set a very fast pace in 30.84 seconds that would hold on to the lead through the end. Ronan McGuigan (IRL) and Blythe Masters' Chapeau finished second in 30.96 seconds. Tim Gredley (GBR) and Unex Billy Dream placed third in 31.65 seconds, and Ramiro Quintana (ARG) and St. Bride's Farm's Tua Efele finished fourth in 32.22 seconds.
WEC l'Ami Noir is a Holsteiner gelding by Cormint x Corrado I that owners at The Windwood Group purchased as a five-year-old. Coles started riding l'Ami two months ago and has been showing the gelding in the seven-year-old classes throughout the last half of the FTI WEF circuit, including a win during week ten leading up to the final.
"When the owners bought him, they kind of knew that he was going to be a grand prix horse, and I think he has proven that already as a seven-year-old," Coles noted. "He is just very scopey and very careful. He is light on his feet and quick off the ground. He wants to be a winner; he really wants to be fast. The rideability is there, it is getting better, but he is just a super horse and I am looking forward to having him in the future."
Speaking of l'Ami's personality, Coles described, "When we first got him, he was a little bit funny. He didn't want to be loved on and he was a little weird, but now we are spoiling him and he is really developing a personality. He is very put together, almost proud of himself. He is big and beautiful and he knows he is a good horse, which is good."
Final Results: $20,000 Adequan® Seven-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic
1. WEC L'AMI NOIR SLOANE COLES THE WINDWOOD GROUP: 0/0/30.840
2. CHAPEAU RONAN MCGUIGAN BLYTHE MASTERS: 0/0/30.961
3. UNEX BILLY DREAM TIM GREDLEY UNEX COMPETITION YARD: 0/0/31.657
4. TUA EFELE RAMIRO QUINTANA ST. BRIDE'S FARM: 0/0/32.226
5. COBERLINA PETER LUTZ ORCHARD FARM: 0/0/32.389
6. ADELE MCLAIN WARD MCLAIN WARD & TEQUESTRIAN FARMS LLC: 0/0/32.417
7. G&C KAY LS RODRIGO PESSOA GUSTAVO MIRABAL: 0/0/32.539
8. CASSTESS HBC JULIE WELLES KADLEY HOLDINGS LLC: 0/0/32.640
9. CALAIS JEFFERY WELLES SHARON GUNTHEL & TRITON VENTURES: 0/0/32.784
10. CICOMEIN VDL TINA DILANDRI HIGHPOINT FARM LLC: 0/0/33.727
11. TARAZAN D'IVRAIE NICOLAS PAILLOT NICOLAS PAILLOT: 0/0/33.734
12. MERCURY LILLIE KEENAN CHANSONETTE FARM LLC: 0/0/34.589
The Adequan® Six-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic was the first class in the International Arena at PBIEC on Friday with a win for Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Hyperion Stud LLC's Dakota VDL. The six-year-old Holsteiner stallion (Casall x Contender) was purchased from VDL Stud two years ago for the highest bid of $210,000 at the 2012 WEF Sport Horse Auction in Wellington. Kenny started riding the horse this year in the middle of January and showed throughout the winter at the 1.30m level.
In Friday's six-year-old classic, the pair topped a class of 63 entries where 26 advanced to the jump-off. They had the fastest time of 34.60 seconds out of 11 double clear rounds. Sloane Coles and The Windwood Group's WEC Damokles finished second in 35.25 seconds. Alex Granato (USA) guided Page Tredennick's Calchen W to third place honors in 35.28 seconds, and Darrin Dlin (CAN) and Susan Grange's Tienna placed fourth in 35.70 seconds.
"He is really a special horse," Kenny praised. "He was already jumping the 1.30m easy. He basically did not do any of the six-year-old classes all winter because we wanted to jump him a little bit bigger. He has huge scope, and he is very careful. He is very, very competitive and today he was super."
"He is super easy," the rider added. "There is nothing difficult about him. He doesn't spook, he has loads of jump, he is very careful and easy to ride. It is an easy thing to go in and try to win a class like this on him. He makes my life very easy, so that's nice. The idea is to just keep building him up and see where he goes. I think he has all the ability to be a top horse."
Final Results: $15,000 Adequan® Six-Year-Old Young Jumper Classic
1. DAKOTA VDL DARRAGH KENNY HYPERION STUD LLC: 0/0/34.607
2. WEC DAMOKLES SLOANE COLES THE WINDWOOD GROUP: 0/0/35.251
3. CALCHEN W ALEX GRANATO PAGE TREDENNICK: 0/0/35.281
4. TIENNA DARRIN DLIN SUSAN GRANGE: 0/0/35.708
5. DIVA CHRISTIAN COYLE DECLAN ORPEN: 0/0/36.392
6. IMERALD VAN'T VOORHOF CODY AUER SARAH RYAN: 0/0/36.684
7. LAVITTO Z MAGGIE MCALARY MAGGIE MCALARY: 0/0/36.942
8. ABBEY ROAD NICOLE SHAHINIAN-SIMPSON SILVER RAVEN FARMS: 0/0/37.110
9. CUMANA JUAN ORTIZ JUAN ORTIZ: 0/0/37.206
10. DANNEMORA HAYLEY BARNHILL BARNHILL LLC: 0/0/38.179
11. CONTINA R MARKUS BEERBAUM MICHAELS & BEERBAUM GMBH: 0/0/41.908
12. HOLLIS MATTHEW METELL WOLVER HOLLOW: 0/4/33.871
© Jennifer Wood
