Week ten of WEF, sponsored by Horseware Ireland, concludes on March 18. Week 11, sponsored by CaptiveOne Advisors, runs March 21-25. A 12-week circuit, WEF hosts hunter, jumper, and equitation competition until April 1 and offers more than $9 million in prize money.
There were 44 entries in the feature event of the week, but only one of them was able to find the key to a clear round over the track by Pan American Games course designer Michel Vaillancourt of Canada.
Smith and Theodore Manciais, an 11-year-old Selle Français gelding by Kashmir van Schuttershof, went sixth in the order. They finished clear in 75.09 seconds, and Smith, who trains with Olympic gold medalist Eric Lamaze of Canada, watched as rail after rail fell for the following 38 riders.
“I think the course was difficult,” said Smith. “I think I had an advantage going early and not knowing how the course was unfolding. I just kind of went in and did the plan that Eric and Yann [Candele] told me exactly. I just did what they said, and it worked out.
“I’ve been training with Eric now for about a year a half,” continued Smith. “I really have to say that he has changed not just my riding, but my life forever. I’m indebted to him for the rest of my life for sure.”
The young rider not only won his first international grand prix, but his first ever FEI ranking class.
“This is amazing and unreal to be here,” he expressed. “To be showing in these competitions anyway is a dream come true. To win one like this is amazing.”
With an early rail on course, Canadian legend and Olympic team silver medalist Ian Millar picked up the pace on course with Ariel Grange’s Dixson to finish second with four faults in 72.23 seconds.
“Dixson had a regrettable early rail,” said Millar. “Actually that turned into an advantage, because then I knew I really had to pick it up to get to be a fast four-faulter. It was a very uncharacteristic rail for him. It was just one of those things that happens, and sport is sport and horses are horses.”
Millar said it was a case of “you have to pick your poison” on the challenging last line of jumps on course – whether to be conservative to the liverpool oxer (“a lot of people then had it down doing that”) and add a stride to the next vertical, or be direct and risk a rail at the vertical.
He added, “The course was quite excellent. I’m a big fan of Michel Vaillancourt. We saw so many faults at the liverpool and the plank, the last few jumps; you wonder what set that off. I suspect that the effort required at the triple combination, even if they jumped it well, was a bit of a fraying effect on the horses mentally. Then they started getting into trouble. But I thought the course certainly did the job more so than Michel ever intended for it to do. I would think he was looking for five or six clean tonight.”
Georgina Bloomberg (USA) and Manodie II H, owned by Gotham Enterprizes LLC, were also quick in 73.53 seconds with four faults to finish third. With their additional third place in Thursday’s Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup, Bloomberg was named the Martha Jolicoeur Leading Lady Rider (in memory of Dale Lawler).
