Natalie Dean and Ceitasi topped a field of 71 entries to win the $37,000 Bainbridge 1.45m Classic CSI3* on Friday, March 13, at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, FL.
Dean, 21, and Ceitasi contested the one-round speed course, set by Michel Vaillancourt (CAN), within the first third of the class, and they set a time to beat of 56.92 seconds that would hold up through to the end.
“The plan was to do five [strides] to six [strides], but I didn’t quite get the jump I wanted,” said Dean of her round. “So I ended up doing six and six, but she’s so fast. She’s a quick adder. She’s naturally a very quick horse, so she’s always going to be up there if I have a nice round.
“She was amazing; she’s just a great horse,” continued Dean in speaking of the 10-year-old Westphalian mare, owned by Marigold Sporthorses LLC. “I’ve had her for around a year now, and I’m looking forward to continuing to do the 1.45m speed ranking classes with her.”
Finishing in second behind Dean with a time of 57.06 seconds was Israel’s Sydney Shulman riding Ardente Printaniere, owned by Jill Shulman. Rounding out the top three on a time of 57.29 seconds were Samuel Parot (CHI) and I & H Boogy Woogy, owned by Parot Horses LLC. Fourth place went to Lucas Porter (USA) and Sleepy P Ranch LLC’s B Once Z, who stopped the clock in 57.88 seconds. Great Britian’s Jessica Mendoza capped the top five riding Dublin, owned by Windsor Farms in 58.82 seconds
