Wellington, Fla. – Feb. 1, 2018 – For the third year, the Jacobs family welcomed an international field of horses and athletes to their private facility at Deeridge Farms for the CP Palm Beach Masters CSI3*-W. The opening day of competition saw World No. 3, reigning World Cup champion and inaugural winner, McLain Ward (USA), ride Evergate Stables LLC’s Hija van Strokapelleken to victory in the $35,000 CP Welcome Stake.
McLain Ward and Hija Van Strokapelleken claim the $35,000 CP Welcome Stake.
Course designer Alan Wade returned to the event for his third year, testing 52 athletes over 12 obstacles set at 1.45m in height on the grass of the Grand Prix Field with a time allowed of 77 seconds. Fourteen athletes cleared the speed without error. Tenth onto the turf was Mexico’s Fernando Martinez Sommer aboard Cor Bakker. Sommer rode his own 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding to a fault-free time of 66.83 seconds to take an early lead.
Almost a third of the way into the order of go, Ward laid down an impressive round, shattering Sommer’s time by almost four and a half seconds for an unbeatable time of 62.02 seconds. Ward and the 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare recently teamed up, but have already found success, claiming the first international victory of the 2018 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) upon winning the Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1.45m Jumpers during Week One. While some people used Thursday’s class for training, Ward noted the prize money was the same as Friday’s $35,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Qualifier and decided to take advantage. Ward also claimed the same victory in 2016 during the first year of the Palm Beach Masters aboard HH Carlos Z.
Rounding out the top three was young athlete Hunter Holloway (USA) aboard Hays Investment Corp.’s Eastern Jam in third place. Holloway and the 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding finished a clear round in 67.42 seconds. The pair has already had a successful start to their year, finishing second in the $25,000 Hermes Under 25 Grand Prix at WEF Week Two.
Friday, Feb. 2, will feature the $35,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Qualifier presented by SOVARO beginning at 2 p.m. to qualify for Sunday’s $220,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Wellington CSI3*-W beginning at 1 p.m. The 2018 CP Palm Beach Masters CSI3*-W offers one of the final two East Coast qualifiers in the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping North American League determining which U.S. athletes qualify for the final in Paris, France in April.
View the original article on Phelps Sports.