Wellington, Fla. – Feb. 2, 2018 – Athletes returned to Deeridge Farms for the second day of competition at the 2018 CP Palm Beach Masters. In the $35,000 Sovaro Palm Beach Masters Qualifier CSI3*-W, 55 riders contested Alan Wade’s demanding track, of which close to 90% acquired faults. At the end of the day, London Olympic gold medalist Ben Maher of Great Britain emerged victorious, going double-clear aboard his own and Jane Forbes Clark’s Tic Tac.
McLain Ward and HH Callas
The 16-effort test was unable to find a clear first round until one-third of the way in when USA’s 24-year-old Adrienne Sternlicht entered the ring aboard Starlight Farms LLC’s Cristalline. A jump-off was not guaranteed until the halfway point when Sternlicht’s trainer, McLain Ward, completed a clear round, but a rail in round two moved him to finish in fifth place. In the end, six riders were able to achieve a faultless first round with Jessica Springsteen electing to save her mount, RMF Swinny du Parc, settling for sixth place and making it a five horse jump-off.
Sternlicht and Cristalline returned first for the jump-off and set the pace with a fault-free round in 34.51 seconds, but two other riders were able to improve on their time and the pair finished in third place. The young talent aso rode the 9-year-old Bavarian Warmblood mare to a top three finish just last week at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in the $132,000 Adequan Grand Prix CSI3*.
Lauren Tisbo (USA) and Tequestrian Farms, LLC’s Coriandolo di Ribano were the first to improve upon Sternlicht’s time as they rode to a clear round in 34.43 seconds to take the lead. The pair just missed sharing the championship photo opportunity with Tisbo’s parents, Tim and Jeannie, of the class’s presenting sponsor, Sovaro, as one final rider was able to surpass their jump-off time. Tisbo finished the day in second place with the 10-year-old stallion, whom she also rode to second place in the $250,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Lexington CSI4*-W at the 2017 CP National Horse Show.
Maher was last to enter the ring for the final round, improving on all of his preceding competitors, riding his 14-year-old Rio Olympic mount to the fastest time of 33.71 seconds to capture the win. Although Tic Tac has not been in the show ring since the National Horse Show at the end of October, he returned in perfect form. The duo will challenge the weekend’s highlight event, the $220,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Wellington CSI3*-W, on Sunday, Feb. 4, beginning at 1 p.m.
View the original article on Phelps Sports.