WELLINGTON, Fla.--Bertram Allen on Pacino Amiro won the $78,000 CSI5* WEF Challenge Cup Round 9 on Thursday, March 9 at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
Bertram Allen on Pacino Amiro (Photo by Sportfot)In the third of four five star rated competitions at WEF, 44 competed in the Challenge Cup over a course designed by Alan Wade of Ireland, but only three riders advanced to the jump-off.
Darragh Kenny of Ireland, first in the jump-off, was clean in 38.65 seconds, but next to go was Allen, who shaved a second off Kenny’s time to finish in 36.94 seconds.
The last to go in the jump-off, Schuyler Riley on Robin De Ponthual had two rails down to place third.
“I’ve never seen a WEF Challenge here where only three were clear in the first round, so it was a much more tactical jump-off than normal,” said Allen. “It was a huge advantage going after Darragh because I saw one or two places in his jump-off where I could get the better of him if I left the rails up.”
Allen on Pacino Amiro has already had two wins in five-star competitions at WEF this season.
“Pacino is an experienced horse now whereas he was only 9 when he started jumping the five-stars here,” Allen said. “He has developed and knows his job now, so we just keep him as fit and healthy as possible.”
CHRISTOPHER PAYNE on Reign won both High Performance Hunters classes on Thursday after placing second and fourth on Wednesday.
“Today he was in a great place, he was very relaxed but focused," said Payne. "He followed me very nicely around the course and put in beautiful efforts at the jumps, so it was really quite fun.”
“I’ve been riding Reign for a couple years now," said Payne. "We imported him at 6 and he’s only moved up to the high performance recently. I think this is his second horse show doing this class. He seems to really like the height; it makes him focus. He feels like a true hunter and when he gets to the jump he uses his whole body beautifully, which gives you such an amazing feeling in the air.”
Payne will compete next in the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby on the grass derby field at Equestrian Village on Saturday.
TJ O’Mara on Fortaleza won the $39,000 CSI2* 1.45m over a field of 64 entries,with a stunning number of 21 making the jump-off..
O'Mara was clean in 29.4 second to win with Susan Horn of Canada on Kirlo Van Den Bosrand second in 30.01 seconds, and Veronica Tracy on Dakota De l’Ardrais finishing third, a fraction off the pace in 30.10 seconds.
“I would say 99% went to plan in my jump-off,” said O’Mara, who had his first FEI win at WEF. “He’s definitely my speed horse; his stride is so big, and I can do the leave outs in every single line. Fence one to two, I ended up doing seven strides where most of the class did eight, and most riders did seven strides from two to three and I did six. He turned so quickly and is so careful I could really trust him going to the double. And from the double to the vertical, I felt him shift a little to the right, so I ended up doing eight strides where I had planned on doing seven.”
O’Mara rides for Max Amaya’s Stonehenge Stables of Colts Neck, N.J.
“He’s actually owned by Caroline Blake and her father, Berry Blake, and they moved to us in 2020, but she recently went to college and they’ve been so generous letting me show him," said O'Mara. This past summer is when I really began showing him competitively and this fall we did our first FEI class together. I click with him so well. Everyone at the barn says we are soulmates."
“He’s one of the nicest horses to ride and to flat," said O'Mara. "He is so soft in the mouth and has a lovely canter, and he’s very adjustable and elastic,. There’s nothing negative to say about him.”
O’Mara will no Point Fortaleza at the $50,000 CSI2* Grand Prix on Saturday.
