Valle de Bravo, Mexico – January 20, 2016 –The newly minted North American League Longines FEI World Cup qualifying season continues in 2016 in Mexico. With ten events complete, four remain before the Finals this March in Gothenburg. The first of those four is also the first ever FEI World Cup Qualifying event produced in Mexico. Welcome to Valle de Bravo CSI4*.
Live Broadcast Schedule
Thursday, January 21 at 3 p.m. ET
$ 35,000 LONGINES World Cup™ competition QUALIFIER 1.50m
Int. jumping competition with jump-off (1.50 m)
FEI Art. 238.2.2 – CSI4*-W
Competition counts for LONGINES RANKINGS
Friday, January 22 at 3 p.m. ET
$ 35,000 AUDI SPEED 1.40m
Int. jumping competition against the clock (1.40 m)
FEI Art. 238.2.1 – CSI4*-W
Competition counts for LONGINES RANKINGS
Results
Antonio Maurer & Lambre Win on Day One
Patricio Pasquel and Carnival. Photo: Anwar Esquivel/EqSol
Setting Latin American records right from the start, 81 International riders representing fourteen countries jogged 175 FEI horses. Under sunny skies, Wednesday’s Welcome FEI classes set the stage for a fantastic week. Course designer Guilherme Jorge of Brazil designed the tracks for a 1.35m class with 72 competitors and for a 1.45m speed class with 43 competitors.
Antonio Maurer of Mexico dominated the 1.35m class, earning 1st, 3rd and 4th in the class aboard Las Palmas Z , Galileo de Laubry and Magnus Jaen Mail respectively. Sneaking into second place was Danish rider Nicolaj Hein Ruus riding Zinancantan.
Full results here.
Brazil’s Rodrigo Lambre rode the 10 year old Argentine mare Charielle (owned by Mario Onate B) to the the top of the FEI 1.45m Welcome Speed Stake. His time of 63.04 was over a second faster than second place finisher Gonzalo Azcarraga of Mexico riding his 12-year-old KWPN stallion Zalernno, who stopped the clock in 64.79. Patricio Pasquel and Carnaval were third, with American Karl Cook aboard Signe Ostby’s Basimodo rounding out the top four.
Full results here.
Rodrigo Lambre & Charielle Take Home Another Blue on Day Two
Rodrigo Lambre and Charielle. Photo: Anwar Esquivel
Valle de Bravo CSI4* offered three classes in the main arena on a picture perfect Thursday. The final class of the day, the FEI 1.45m Longines Ranking class, was the qualifier for Saturday’s highlight event, the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping, Valle de Bravo, presented by Scappino. Three out of thirty-seven horses negotiated Guilherme Jorge’s track without fault and once again Brazil’s Rodrigo Lambre and the quick Argentinian mare Charielle (Mario Onate, owner) were clean and fast for the win.
Pizarro set a deceptively fast and clear jump-off round, as the smooth track didn’t seem speedy in 43.51. Clearly out to win, Coulter set a forward pace but even without her single rail on course, her time of 45.21 did not beat Pizarro. Fresh off yesterday’s win in the FEI Welcome Speed Stake, Lambre piloted Charielle on a tidy track to stop the clock clean in 41.18, once again winning by a fairly wide margin.
Time was a factor in the first round, as the 4th through 6th placed riders scored only one time fault and the 7th place horse finished with a score of two time faults. Aside from those four entries another dozen finished with both faults on course and exceeding the time allowed.
Full results here.
Audrey Coulter and Alex finish third. Photo: Anwar Esquivel
Fifty-six horses competed in the FEI 1.35m Speed Class earlier in the day. Of the twenty-nine who went clean, Mexico’s own Juan Pablo Gaspar Albanez rode Shamrock V (owned by Eric Hochstadter) to the win in 49.63. Francisco Lomelin rode Balzane du Noyer (Hank Melse B.V. & European Sporthorses, owner) second fastest in a time of 50.73, with a close third going to Manuel Gonzales Dufrane and Desie (owned by Andres Gonzalez de la Parre), stopping the clock in 50.98.
Friday’s classes begin with the third FEI 1.35m at 9am (CST), followed by an FEI 1.40m class and another $35,000 FEI 1.45m class beginning at 3pm (CST). The afternoon class is available via livestream on the FEI YouTube channel as well as through the USEF Network, iEquine and Practical Horseman online.