WELLINGTON, Fla.--Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil on Corrie 9 won the $32,000, 1.45m Two Phase at the Winter Equestrian Festival while James Chawke of Ireland on Nacara van Berkenbroeck Z won the $10,000, 1.35m Welcome Speed for the second week in a row at Desert Circuit 5 on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
Rodrigo Pessoa on Corrie 9 (Photo by SEL Photography)Pessoa, who was late to go in the class of 37, was clean in 22.22 to just edge out Erynn Ballard of Canada on Chatedel PS, clean in 22.66.
There were 28 of the 37 that went on to the second phase in the class, and of those, 16 were clean in the second phase, with just eight seconds separating first from 16th, so a very competitive class.
Marilyn Little on Narado was third in 23.47, followed by Nicola Philippaerts of Belgium on Que Sera, fourth in 23.66, Nicole Walker of Canada on Atout des Trambles, fifth in 24.11, and Daniel Bluman of Israel on Rebelline de Kwakenbeek, sixth in 24.39.
At Thermal, Designer Peter Holmes set the speed course on the grass field, and Amanda Gomez on Charly-Ann quickly established the time to beat at a competitive 56.915 seconds.
AS THE penultimate rider to jump, Chawke selected a slightly different track than Gomez, which ultimately led to him narrowly securing the win in a time of 56.764 seconds.
James Chawke on Nacara van Berkenbroek (Photo by High Desert Sport Photo)“Amanda’s horse is very quick, but we kind of did very different numbers,” said Chawke. “I did one less in a few lines; she did less in the turns. It just about equaled each other out. It was pretty close.”
Chawke placed first with Gomez second, and Jessica Gleason on Mack Wildrick was third i 59.806.
“Nacara I’ve had for a couple of years now, probably three years,” said Chawke. “He’s very blood, very sensitive. He kind of likes to run along a little bit. He a little bit likes that sort of rhythm. He’s really very competitive, very fast.”
“He’s won a few CSI3* 1.50ms," said Chawke. "Really today I just wanted to get him back out on the grass. I was injured last winter, so he didn’t really do anything here. I thought it’d be nice to get him out there, and he was super. The grass feels really good!”
