On Saturday, November 14, FEI competition continued at the ESP Pre-Charity Show CSI3* with the $12,000 CCTV Agent 1.45m Speed CSI3* at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). Saturday was the final day for exhibitors to get mileage in the ring ahead of Sunday morning’s $137,000 Noltrex®Vet Grand Prix CSI3*.
Brian Moggre on Nikita Jolie. Photo by Anne Gittins Photography.
With only one opportunity to put their best foot forward in Saturday’s speed contest, exhibitors galloped through course designer Guilherme Jorge’s (BRA) 14-effort track, with Brian Moggre (USA) and Ashland Farms’ Nikita Jolie clocking the swiftest clear time to capture the lead spot in the victory gallop.
“We’re still getting to know each other, especially with that break we had for quarantine, but she’s wonderful,” Moggre commented on his partnership with the 10-year-old Oldenburg mare (Numero Uno x Ladalco). The pair made their debut during the Nations Cup™ CSIO5* week in Wellington in February and have gone on to win a number of classes including the Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1.45m Classic CSIO4* at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
With 35 entries in the class, the lead changed a number of times in the $12,000 CCTV Agent 1.45m Speed CSI3* for the first half of the pack. By the time Moggre and Nikita Jolie claimed the top spot as 19th in the order-of-go, the frontrunner position had been held by Adrienne Sternlicht (USA) and Ashley Vogel (USA). Always a quick contender, Moggre piloted Nikita Jolie to the fastest ride of the day by slicing a full second off the leading pair’s time to jump to the top of the leaderboard, a status they would retain as none of the duos in the latter portion of the class could catch them.
Of the track, Moggre commented, “I thought today’s course was perfect for this type of class. There were enough turns and you could be quicker in some places than others, but a lot of it gave you room to gallop. [If] you had a horse that had a big stride where you could rely on a big gallop there were spaces for that, and then if you had a horse that’s quicker around the turns, there was also plenty of opportunity for those turns.”
At the conclusion of the class, Moggre and Nikita Jolie touted a final fault-free time of 65.88 seconds to earn the champion honors, followed by Vogel and her own Bellissimo Z in second place with a clear time of 66.88 seconds, exactly one second off the winning pace. Riding his own Dublin Van Overis, Jorge Matte Capdevila (CHI) rounded out the top three finishers after crossing the finish line with no faults in 68.19 seconds. In total, 11 partnerships successfully finished the course with no faults.
After traveling for the majority of the year, Moggre shared that he’s glad to be back in Wellington where it “feels like home,” while still being able to compete his string of horses safely. “I think as of now, it’s running very smoothly and all the temperature checks are great. You don’t feel restricted with the protocols, but they’re still doing everything necessary to keep everybody safe at the show,” he concluded.
For full class results, click here. The ESP Fall Series will continue through Sunday, November 15, at the main grounds of PBIEC with the ESP Pre-Charity Show, featuring “A” rated and Jumper 6* national competition, as well as CSI3* international classes.