Wellington, FL – Laura Chapot (USA) had a stellar day to open the Marshall & Sterling/Great American Insurance Group CSI4* week at the 2021 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), taking the win in the $6,000 Bainbridge Companies 1.40m Jumpers aboard Shooting Star, an entry owned by Laura and Mary Chapot, and adding to that by capturing the top four spots with her other mounts on Wednesday, February 3, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC).

Coming up on Friday is the $50,000 Adequan® WEF Challenge Round 4 on the grass Derby Field at Equestrian Village, the $25,000 Hermès U25 Grand Prix Series Team Event in the Global Stadium Arena, and in the International Arena at PBIEC is the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Hunt Go at 1 p.m.

Saturday’s schedule is highlighted by the $37,000 CaptiveOne Advisors 1.50m Classic on the Derby Field followed by the Great Charity Challenge, presented by Fidelity Investments® taking place in the International Arena on Saturday night. The week wraps up with the $50,000 Palm Beach Equine Clinic 1.45m Grand Prix CSI2* followed by the $214,000 Marshall & Sterling/Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix CSI4*, both set to go on the Derby Field. Don’t miss a minute of the action and catch all feature classes for free on the livestream HERE.

A total of 96 combinations contested the opening day, two-phase track set by Olaf Petersen Jr. (GER). Chapot and Shooting Star, her 20-year-old gelding by Phin Phin x Filexa, were the first to enter the International Arena. Their speedy effort of 26.825 seconds in the jump-off held from start to finish for the victory.

“I think Olaf always sets a nice track, especially for the first day here,” she said. “The first part of it was pretty straightforward and allowed you a little opportunity to go fast in the jump-off. Shooting Star may be 20 years old this year, but he’s the smallest horse with the biggest stride. The big, open ring really plays into his strengths because he can really gallop across and leave out strides that way. That’s where he can be really fast.”