During last nights top class at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington it was USA's Lillie Keenen who was the leader of the pack. Aboard het Be Gentle (by Ticalux Verte) the was the only one who managed to clear the course under the 60 second mark. Ali Wolff came in second and Eduardo Menezes jumped to the third place.
Keenan has been on a roll with the KWPN bred mare in Wellington lately. In January the pair claimed two wins in the U25 classes and last month they finished in fifth during the CSI2* Gran Prix. Now they add a CSI5* win to the list by clearing the 1.45m course in 59.83 seconds.
However Wolff did not give the win away that easy. Aboard her Holsteiner mare Caya (by Carolus I) the rider followed in second place. With a time of 60.34 seconds she narrowly escaped Menezes en Caruschka 2 (by Caspar). Aboard his gray mare the Brazillian rider crossed the finish line a mere six hundred of a seconds later.
The top five was completed by Irish rider Shane Sweetnam in fourth place and Heather Caristo Williams finishing in fifth for the USA.