laf Petersen Jr. of Germany set the 1.45m speed course on Friday with 42 entries and 12 clear rounds. Bucci and SPCS’s Heartbreaker vd Achteroe had the winning time of 64.15 seconds. They beat out Laura Chapot and Quointreau un Prince, owned by Chapot and McLain Ward, who finished second in 65.19 seconds. Sweetnam and Spy Coast Farm LLC’s Beluga clocked in at 66.54 seconds to place third. Eric Lamaze (CAN) guided Carol Sollak’s Brooklyn Blues to fourth in 67.50 seconds. Class winner Heartbreaker vd Achteroe is an eight-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Bentley van de Heffinck x Catango Z) that Bucci has had for less than six months. Although they are still getting to know each other, they had a great round on Friday, and Bucci thinks that in time they will be even faster. “I have not had him for so long. He is quite green, but he is a very good horse,” Bucci stated. “I am just getting to know him. He is really a sport horse. He is competitive. When I know him better and he is more experienced, I think I could do this course even two seconds less. I started at the beginning holding him a little bit, but still he was really fast.” Chapot was leading with a very fast time before Bucci entered the ring, but he rode his own plan. “I didn’t see Laura, but I had my course in my mind and I didn’t want to change it because of her,” he explained. “I tried to do my best and it was enough today, luckily.” Based in Holland, Bucci will return to Europe and plans to compete for Italy in the Nations Cup in Lummen, Belgium, at the end of April. He has other horses resting at home and will continue to develop the young ones that showed throughout WEF.
