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Galant and McLain Ward by a Nose Over Ellen Whitaker and AK Kanselier for Win in $7,500 1.45m Table A at Winter Equestrian Festival
The $7500 1.45m Jumpers CSIO was scored under FEI Table A. Time First Round. The Course Designer for the CSIO United States is Jose Gamarra of La Paz, Bolivia. Thirty nine starters went to the post in the 12:30pm featured event. Thirteen horse and rider combinations produced clear rounds. Three came home with a time fault, while ten riders accumulated four faults. Thirteen had eight faults or more. Laura Chapot and Sprite, making a bid for their 31st Winter Equestrian Festival speed win together, took the lead at the halfway point of the class, cruising home clear with a time of 49.89 seconds. Five horses later, Great Britain’s Michael Whitaker grabbed the lead from Chapot on Beverly Hills Equestrian’s Lexicon. Whitaker, knocking .20 off of the top time, broke the beams in 49.69 seconds. Whitaker’s lead lasted five rounds before McLain Ward took over for good. Aboard his mount Galant, Ward tripped the timers in 49.07 seconds for the Friday win. But Ward couldn’t breathe a sigh of relief until the time was posted for Ellen Whitaker, also from Great Britain. The 19 year old Whitaker had everyone on the edge of their seat but came up just short of the mark, finishing in 49.33 seconds. “It was a very fast class today,” Ward recounted. “Galant has been good all circuit. He’s had some nice results and a few good wins mixed in with a lot of bad luck. My circuit this year seems to be all about four faults, so I was really happy with today’s outcome.” Ward had a chance to gauge his ride by that of Chapot’s earlier trip. “I kind of knew the pace,” explained Ward. “I saw Sprite go, but when it was all said and done, I was only a half a second faster, so it was all very close, only a split here or there between all of us.” Ward admitted that Whitaker had a chance to catch him until the final line. “She did seven strides to the last line and certainly the six was a little quicker. Had she done the six there, she probably would have won it today.” Whitaker loves riding for speed. “Well, I’ve had plenty of practice I think,” laughed Whitaker. “He’s a good speed horse as well and I’ve just recently changed his bit and that makes things a hell of lot easier, because it seems like maybe I’ve got a bit more control now,” she chuckled. This is Whitaker’s first Florida visit. “I’ve enjoyed it tremendously. I’ve got a few horses going in the National divisions too and have a bit of luck, so I’ve enjoyed Florida a lot.” The 1.45m was the only event scheduled at the Internationale Arena for Friday afternoon. One of the highlights of the Winter Equestrian Festival’s seven week Wellington run is tonight’s Samsung Nations Cup. Scheduled for 7pm, tonight’s International team competition features eight countries vying for the 2005 Samsung Nations Cup title, won last year by the equestrian team from Canada. Teams from Canada, Great Britain, Argentina, Mexico, France, Ireland, Belgium and the United States go for $50,000 tonight at 7pm. Official Results - $7500 1.45m Jumpers – Table A – 03-11-05 – Internationale Arena
PHOTO CREDIT: McLain Ward and Galant. Photo by Randi Muster |
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Wellington,
FL - March 11, 2005 – Sunny skies and warm temperatures graced
the 2005 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) for the second day in a row
and competition returned to the Internationale Arena as the CSIO United
States – CN Finale entered its third day of show jumping action
at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Florida. Heavy
rains on Wednesday forced the closure of the grass arena through yesterday’s
classes. 
