Saturday’s schedule is highlighted by the $37,000 CaptiveOne Advisors 1.50m Classic on the Derby Field followed by the Great Charity Challenge, presented by Fidelity Investments® taking place in the International Arena on Saturday night. The week wraps up with the $50,000 Palm Beach Equine Clinic 1.45m Grand Prix CSI2* followed by the $214,000 Marshall & Sterling/Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix CSI4*, both set to go on the Derby Field. Don’t miss a minute of the action and catch all feature classes for free on the livestream.
A total of 96 combinations contested the opening day, two-phase track set by Olaf Petersen Jr. (GER). Chapot and Shooting Star, her 20-year-old gelding by Phin Phin x Filexa, were the first to enter the International Arena. Their speedy effort of 26.825 seconds in the jump-off held from start to finish for the victory.
“I think Olaf always sets a nice track, especially for the first day here,” she said. “The first part of it was pretty straightforward and allowed you a little opportunity to go fast in the jump-off. Shooting Star may be 20 years old this year, but he’s the smallest horse with the biggest stride. The big, open ring really plays into his strengths because he can really gallop across and leave out strides that way. That’s where he can be really fast.”
The 50-year-old rider from Neshanic Station, NJ, finished first overall in Section B of the California Split class aboard Out of Ireland, a 15-year-old Anglo European mare by Lougherne Connaught x Amiro M, owned by Laura Chapot and The Edge, stopping the timers in 26.978 seconds.“Since he [Shooting Star] had to go first in the ring, I had to set my plan and stick with it and once he went, I figured the rest of them could pretty much follow what he did because fortunately, all my horses in this class have long strides. Once he set the pace and I knew it was possible, I knew how much I needed to press the others to do the same thing.”
