Wellington, FL – January 25, 2015 – The 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) concluded its third week of competition, sponsored by Adequan®, with a fantastic jump-off in Sunday’s $34,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). The win went to Brazil’s Alvaro ‘Doda’ de Miranda and his 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, AD Argos (Padinus x Concorde). Mexico’s Sofia Larrea and Jumex Sport Archimides finished second,and Great Britain’s Nick Skelton placed third aboard Deauville S.
Leopoldo Palacios concluded the third week of WEF with 58 entries in the 1.50m competition and 14 clear rounds to advance to the jump-off. There were nine different countries represented by riders in the top 12 finishers. Nine were clear over the short course in an exciting race to the finish where De Miranda and AD Argos, owned by the rider and Victory Equestrian Sport BV, had the winning time of 32.23 seconds.
Larrea and Monica Burillo’s Jumex Sport Archimides stopped the clock in 33.05 seconds to finish second. Skelton and Julius Peter Sinnack’s Deauville S finished the third place round in in 33.32 seconds, and Russia’s Ljubov Kochetova took fourth in a time of 33.49 seconds with her own Balou du Reventon.
Following a great win, De Miranda explained that his partnership with AD Argos has been a work in progress for the last two years. As a seven-year-old, Argos won a bronze medal at the 2012 FEI World Breeding Jumping Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken, Belgium, with Dutch rider Mathijs van Asten. De Miranda bought the horse that year when he was seven, turning eight years old, and explained that although very talented, Argos had been a difficult stallion and continued to be a challenge even after he was gelded. Sunday’s win was a great payoff for the dedication that the rider has put into developing the horse.
“I bought him as a gelding, but he was a very difficult horse even last year,” De Miranda explained. “That is the horse that I broke my shoulder with last year at WEF during week seven or eight. He is very spooky with people. He is a horse that is very brave, but he is very sensitive, especially the way that he sees things sometimes. You can have a very spooky fence and he will jump it no problem, but then maybe he is looking at something else that you don’t notice. The most difficult thing for the last two years has been to keep him with you and know where to look.”
“Today, when I came in the jump-off to the Hermès jump, I was scared that he would look at the flowers,” the rider continued. “I showed him the flowers two times when I came in the arena and then he was okay, but sometimes he can surprise you for something that you cannot expect. That is why I rode him four days this week. When he is a little more tired, he feels better. For me, he is more relaxed.”
Argos jumped in the $127,000 Adequan® Grand Prix CSI 3* on Saturday night and De Miranda felt that his horse was quite good, noting that they had a couple of mistakes that were mostly rider error.
“I planned to jump today one more time, and I was very proud of him,” De Miranda stated. “Today he was the best, the way that he was jumping was hard to have a mistake.”
Sunday’s jump-off course concluded with a long gallop across the International Arena to an oxer set near the in-gate. Although still cautious about Argos getting distracted, De Miranda raced through the course and felt that his horse was definitely on his game.
“He is very fast, and he can turn very fast,” De Miranda detailed. “If you turn and he is a little bit spooked with something else, you can get surprised, but today it was very good. He was very focused. I felt that he was with me the whole time and then to the last jump I knew that I was quite fast. I added one extra stride there not to go too crazy, but he jumped it very well. I was happy.”
Asta Torokvei Ends WEF 3 on a Strong Note Winning the Beval Palm Beach Adult Medal
On Sunday, 12 competitors competed in the first round of the Beval Palm Beach Adult Medal. After the jumping round, the top seven competitors were invited to come back for a flat phase. At the end of the two rounds, Asta Torokvei, from Toronto, Canada, was announced as the winner. Amy Cooper finished in second place and Brittani Director rounded out the top three.
Torokvei rode to victory on her mother’s horse Riverdale. Now 13, the Torokvei family has owned Riverdale since he was 5 years old. “My mom rides him [Riverdale] during the week and takes him on trail rides. I get to steal him for one day a week and play with him in the equitation,” Torokvei explained.
“He [Riverdale] is called Teddy at home because he is a teddy bear. He is the easiest, most laid back horse we have!” Torokvei said enthusiastically.
Having taken the past two winters off, Torokvei was happy to be back in the equitation ring with Riverdale. “He [Riverdale] felt super. I tried to take a risk to the first jump, and he was totally game,” Torokvei commented about her horse’s performance.
While pleased with the way her horse went, Torokvei was also impressed by the course design. Torokvei said, “The course was nice today. It started off a little easy and by the end it gave some options for sharper inside turns.”
After starting the day winning the Beval Palm Beach Adult Medal, Torokvei and Riverdale also went on to win both over fences classes in the Adult Equitation. Not only does Torokvei enjoy success in the equitation ring, she also shows two horses in the jumper divisions.
With three horses keeping her busy, Torokvei lives in Wellington full-time during the winter. Looking forward to finishing the WEF circuit, Torokvei will return home in April.
The 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival continues with its fourth week of competition, sponsored by Fidelity Investments®, on January 28-February 1, 2015. The week will feature the $372,000 FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix CSI-W 5*, presented by Fidelity Investments®, on Saturday, January 31. Other highlights include the $127,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 4 on Thursday, January 29, the $25,000 Artisan Farms Under 25 Grand Prix Team Event, presented by the McNerney Family, on Friday, January 30, at The Stadium at PBIEC, and the $85,000 Suncast® 1.50M Championship Classic on Sunday, February 1.
The $50,000 Wellington Eventing Showcase, presented by Asheville Regional Airport, will also be held during week four on January 30-31, 2015. The special showcase will feature some of eventing’s top horses and riders competing for phenomenal prize money in the winter equestrian capital of the world.
Final Results: $34,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper
1. AD ARGOS – ALVARO DE MIRANDA (BRA) 0/0/32.23
2. JUMEX SPORT ARCHIMIDES – SOFIA LARREA (MEX) 0/0/33.05
3. DEAUVILLE S – NICK SKELTON (GBR) 0/0/33.32
4. BALOU DU REVENTON – LJUBOV KOCHETOVA (RUS) 0/0/33.49
5. ZZ TOP VH SCHAARBROEK Z – IEMANUEL ANDRADE (VEN) 0/0/33.66
6. DAKOTA – PAIGE JOHNSON (USA) 0/0/33.87
7. ROSIERE VESQUERIE – LAUREN TISBO (USA) 0/0/35.23
8. SAMSON II – KIRSTEN COE (USA) 0/0/35.33
9. BONANZA VAN PAEMEL – CATHERINE PASMORE (USA) 0/0/35.65
10.QUIZ – DARRAGH KENNY (IRL) 0/4/33.09
11.COCO BONGO – ERIC LAMAZE (CAN) 0/4/37.72
12.SI BELLA – ADAM PRUDENT (FRA) 0/8/38.71
For full results and more information, please visit www.pbiec.com.
Source: Press release
