The penultimate week of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) wasted no time delving into its highlight classes on Thursday, March 24, 2022, in the International Arena. The morning kicked off with the $37,000 Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1.45m CSI4* where Nayel Nassar (EGY) reigned supreme with El Conde, owned by Evergate Stables LLC. WEF 11 is sponsored by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, and runs through Sunday, March 27. WEF concludes with week 12 on March 30-April 3.
Fifty-one horse-and-rider combinations led the way across the speed track, which was designed by Olaf Petersen Jr (GER). There were 19 clear rounds, but it was Nassar and El Conde who jumped to the top roughly halfway through the class and clocked in under 58 seconds to produce a real challenge for the field.
“I have to say, this is a bit of an unexpected win,” admitted Nassar. “We were using this as prep for the rest of the week, but he has such a good engine. As long as you turn him on and leave him there, he generally doesn’t waste much time. Our goal today was just to set a pace and keep it, but he’s such a cool guy he really locks on to the jumps and as soon as you think of a direction, he’s going there.”
Nassar noticed the 11-year-old SBS gelding (Lord Piana Filou De Muze x Final Shot) in November 2021 but was able to secure the ride at the beginning of February 2022.
“It took us a while to put something together, but I am very glad we were able to acquire him because he is such a cool addition to the team,” said Nassar. “He is really a fighter in the ring. He has a lot of character, and he tends to build in the warm-up ring. I was a bit rushed getting on today so I did not have as much time to warm up, and he actually seemed to prefer that because he never got a chance to get his adrenaline boiling. As soon as he goes into the ring though, he knows it’s time to perform and he just turns it on.”
Abdel Saïd (BEL) came the closest to the win to secure second place aboard Bandoit Savoie. Saïd navigated a clear round with a time of 58.03 seconds on his own 11-year-old Selle Francais gelding (Qlassic Bois Margot x Alcamera). Laura Kraut procured the third-place position for the USA with Eugenie Angot’s 10-year-old Selle Francais gelding Calgary Tame (Old Chap Tame x Kashmir Van’t Schuttershof) by stopping the clock with a final time of 58.55 seconds.
Matthew Sampson Charges to the Finish in the $37,000 Beerbaum Stables Grand Prix Qualifier CSI2*
In the largest class of the day, 89 international pairs crossed under the bridge into the International Arena for the $37,000 Beerbaum Stables Grand Prix Qualifier CSI2*. Petersen Jr. set a sufficient course to challenge the impressive number of entries. With a tight time-allowed, 12 riders had their hopes dashed by added time to the clock, and another 13 incurred just a single jumping penalty.
Only 11 duos managed to successfully produce a fault-free first round leaving them to contest the day’s final jump-off track. As the clear round trailblazer, Laura Chapot (USA) and her long-time partner Chandon Blue were the first to test their skills a second time but would end up settling for seventh place with a downed rail. The top honors eventually landed with Matthew Sampson (GBR) as he landed over the final obstacle thirteen-hundredths of a second faster than the runner up. Sampson and his 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Curraghgraigue Obos Flight (Obos Quality 004 x Errigal Flight) have been knocking on the door of victory throughout the season and their efficient time of 38.62 seconds over an arguably challenging track sealed their fate.
“Today’s course was very difficult – you could tell that when you walked it – but with the amount of entries that there were, the course designer had a lot of decisions to make,” explained Sampson. “To me, it definitely rode more like a two-star grand prix than a qualifier but my horse jumps amazing, and he has deserved this win for a while. He has had some incredible rounds this season with maybe just an unlucky rail keeping us from the top.”
Sampson has been paired with the “game-y” gelding for close to three years and has been competing him successfully up to the five-star level.
“He is the type of horse that wants to win as much as I do,” he stated. “He has had great rounds the rest of the season in some of the bigger five-star events, but today’s two-star was equally as difficult. Where I think the course suited us best was his smaller stride allowed us to be quick down several of the lines that other riders may have had to steady for.”
Caelinn Leahy (USA) and Coldplay 31 dashed around the arena in an effort to overthrow Sampson but the ride settled for second place. Leahy piloted Steve Schaefer’s 13-year-old Westphalian gelding (Cassini II x Phantom) in a time of 38.75 seconds. Wesley Newlands (CAN) and Weslands Farms’ 10-year-old BWP stallion Maestro Van Het Binnenveld (Hunter’s Scendix x Conan Z) rounded out the finishing lap of honor on a clear-round that clocked them in at 40.30 seconds.
Source: press release
Photo: © Sportfot