A little Irish luck christened the weekend at Wellington International on Friday during Week 3 of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). Irish Olympian Bertram Allen won the CHF37,000 Wellington Equestrian Realty CSI4* 1.45m riding Emmylou for owners Ballywalter Stables and Noel Delahunty Connaught Bloodstock.
Course designer Peter Grant’s (CAN) set a one-round speed track that welcomed 50 pairs to test their quickness. The one that couldn’t be caught, however, was Allen and his 2012 Irish-bred mare (Billy Mexico x Lupin Z) clocking in at 61.85 second. They topped second-place finisher and U.S. Olympic team silver medalist Jessica Springsteen riding Naomi van het Keizershof. owned by Stone Hill Farm. They were just two seconds off the pace in 63.36 seconds, while Vanessa Hood (USA) and Cascalretto, owned by Take Two LLC, rounded out the podium in 63.51 seconds.
Allen was thrilled with his mare’s performance, saying, “I was very early to go in fourth, so I was just going to go and give it my best shot. I have a very competitive horse and she gave a massive effort. She’s just fantastic and I knew that if I rode well that I could have a chance today.”
Their partnership is fairly new, but their potential is obvious after today’s win. “I started with her here last year,” said Allen about adding Emmylou, the previous mount of Norwegian rider Johan-Sebastian Gulliksen, to his string during the 2022 WEF season. “She’s really cool and she tries absolutely everything because she’s quite small and maybe does not have all the scope in the world. Sometimes she jumps classes bigger than she should be able to normally because she tries so hard and is brave. That makes it all possible.”
Allen has returned to Wellington this season with seasoned mounts like Emmylou, as well as a string of nine-year-olds that will step into the International Arena. “I’m hoping to keep winning with the older ones and have the younger ones jumping some bigger classes by the end,” he concluded.
Course designer Peter Grant’s (CAN) set a one-round speed track that welcomed 50 pairs to test their quickness. The one that couldn’t be caught, however, was Allen and his 2012 Irish-bred mare (Billy Mexico x Lupin Z) clocking in at 61.85 second. They topped second-place finisher and U.S. Olympic team silver medalist Jessica Springsteen riding Naomi van het Keizershof. owned by Stone Hill Farm. They were just two seconds off the pace in 63.36 seconds, while Vanessa Hood (USA) and Cascalretto, owned by Take Two LLC, rounded out the podium in 63.51 seconds.
Allen was thrilled with his mare’s performance, saying, “I was very early to go in fourth, so I was just going to go and give it my best shot. I have a very competitive horse and she gave a massive effort. She’s just fantastic and I knew that if I rode well that I could have a chance today.”
Their partnership is fairly new, but their potential is obvious after today’s win. “I started with her here last year,” said Allen about adding Emmylou, the previous mount of Norwegian rider Johan-Sebastian Gulliksen, to his string during the 2022 WEF season. “She’s really cool and she tries absolutely everything because she’s quite small and maybe does not have all the scope in the world. Sometimes she jumps classes bigger than she should be able to normally because she tries so hard and is brave. That makes it all possible.”
Allen has returned to Wellington this season with seasoned mounts like Emmylou, as well as a string of nine-year-olds that will step into the International Arena. “I’m hoping to keep winning with the older ones and have the younger ones jumping some bigger classes by the end,” he concluded.