January 27, 2006 - WEF, Day 4

$20,000 1.50m Classic Win for Uruguay’s Jose Rega

Wellington, FL – The first Saturday afternoon of the 2007 Winter Equestrian Festival at the Palm Beach Polo and Equestrian Club saw a remarkably small field of just 15 riders, albeit a stellar line-up, contest the $20,000 1.50m Classic – and only four combinations were able to answer the first-round questions posed by Luc Musette’s tricky 13-fence course. Interestingly, it was a stand-alone obstacle, an oxer at fence 10, approached off a corner, that proved to be the bogey fence, scalping 40 percent of the field, including: Amy Monrow/Summer Storm, Christine McCrea/Triomphe de Muze, Simon Nizri/Cataro Ask, Sandy Van Dyke/Remonta Eden and Michael Morrissey/Crabamboli.

The generous time allowed didn’t factor into the first-round scores, and McLain Ward and Larioso were the first to keep themselves out of trouble to qualify for the jump-off. Jose Rega, likewise, gave Cinoa a textbook round, followed immediately by Shane Sweetnam and Quidam Junior. Completing the jump-off line-up, 56-year-old show jumping veteran, Debbie Stephens riding the approved stallion Callaway 4.

The jump-off course retained the double combination at the midway point (4a/b), then provided a long gallop to the oxer at five and a sharp rollback to six, but it was the last fence (9) that proved to be the fly in the ointment.

Drawn first, McLain Ward and Larioso produced a supreme effort, but were then stumped at the last, having posted the quickest time by some four seconds over the riders that followed, to finish third.

Rega adopted a more cautious approach with the 17-year-old Cinoa, a Selle Français mare who came to him through the wife of French international Michel Robert four years ago, and their perfectly timed clear round put them into the lead on 42.911 seconds.

Shane Sweetnam’s pace was similarly conservative with Quidam Junior, a hot horse who’s a little more erratic at higher speeds, and as the level of anxiety increased going to the last, it proved their undoing: a four-fault round in 42.751.

Last to go, Debbie Stephens produced a classic round with Callaway 4, maintaining good momentum going into the fences and keeping a level head through to the last. “I got him last year, but he got hurt in quarantine (pulling the muscles in his back) so I didn’t get to show him that much. He had to have quite a long rehabilitation, so I showed him a little in the summer, to get to know him, then gave him the fall off, so he’s really come back strong here. What a nice horse.”

Describing her jump-off approach as “conservative,” Stephens went on to say, “I felt I had a lot of horse under me. Again, don’t know him, haven’t ridden him in too many jump-offs, so I wanted to be as close to the time and beat it, but I was a little too slow.”

A Holsteiner stallion by Cor de la Bryère, Callaway is a blue-blood as far as pedigree is concerned, and is maintaining a dual competitive/breeding career. As Stephens explains, “He loves the girls, so we can’t take that away from him. He’s all man, and knows he’s a stallion, but he’s a real gentleman and real competitive. Very controllable and always listens to his rider, a respectful horse.”

For a delighted Jose Rega, he began by saying, “The jump-off went as planned. I didn’t want to go crazy fast, just put some pressure on her,” laughing and indicating Debbie Stephens standing alongside.

Describing what he felt were the problems during the first round, Rega said, “For me it was the double of verticals, which actually went very well, and then the vertical [fence 10] before the last double that came down the most.”

Breathing a sigh of relief when McLain hit the last fence, Rega admitted, “I knew McLain was very fast, so I had to do something in between, so it was good. I’m so proud of her.” Referring to her age, he praised his mare, saying, “She’s still doing a good job in the ring. We’ve had her since she was 13 years old.” Owned by Victoria d’Agostino, Rega said, “She used to do the High Amateur classes with her, and she always does a good job. She’s great.”

Results of Class 1001 - $20,000 1.5m Classic II 2a - WEF/PBIEC Inaugural
January 27, 2007

• 1 161 CINOA JOSE REGA 0.00 81.277 0.00 42.911 $6000 VICTORIA D'AGOSTINO
• 2 635 CALLAWAY 4 DEBBIE STEPHENS 0.00 83.390 0.00 46.083 $4000 CENTENNIAL FARMS
• 3 676 LARIOSO MC LAIN WARD 0.00 77.894 4.00 38.081 $2000 MC LAIN WARD
• 4 2832 QUIDAM JUNIOR SHANE SWEETNAM 0.00 81.799 4.00 42.751 $1400 SHANE SWEETNAM
• 5 379 SUMMER STORM AMY MOMROW 4.00 79.044 $1200 SHAINE BROOKS
• 6 756 TRIOMPHE DE MUZE CHRISTINE MCCREA 4.00 79.991 $1000 CANDY TRIBBLE
• 7 2716 PLATINUM PERFORMANCE FOR ROBERT KRAUT 4.00 80.177 $1000 POLLY RICH FARMS
• 8 420 MILL CREEK SPARKY TONYA HENNING 4.00 82.549 $800 MILL CREEK STABLES
• 9 1136 IMPULSIVE SCOTT LENKART 4.00 83.220 $800 BENNETT SPORT HORS
• 10 1720 LENNOX LEWIS 2 LESLIE HOWARD 8.00 79.074 $600 PETER HOWARD
• 11 2887 CATARO ASK SIMON NIZRI 8.00 83.014 $600 SIMON NIZRI
• 12 3063 CRABAMBOLI MICHAEL MORRISSEY 8.00 83.534 $600 EUGENE R MISCHE

PHOTO CREDIT: Jose Rega steering Cinoa to victory in the $20,000 1.50m Classic © Photo by PMG Pictures/Peter Llewellyn.