January 21, 2016 –Valle de Bravo CSI**** offered three classes in the main arena on a picture perfect Thursday. The final class of the day, the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 1.45m 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 37 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.
Winner Brazil’s Rodrigo Lambre and Charielle © Anwar EsquivelFifteenth to go and first clean was Nicolas Pizarro of Mexico on his second mount of the class, the 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding, Barbaro. Six rounds later American Audrey Coulter rode fault-free aboard Alex, a 12-year-old, Westphalian gelding. And last to go, Lambre and Charielle rounded out the three to return.
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.
Second-place finisher U.S. rider Audrey Coulter and Alex © Anwar EsquivelTime was a factor in the first round, as the fourth through sixth placed riders scored only one time fault and the seventh-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: http://eventcontent.hippoonline.de/1119/sta_erg/105_ergENG.htm?style=longines
Fifty-six horses competed in the FEI 1.35m Speed Class earlier in the day. Of the 29 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 9 a.m. (CST), followed by an FEI 1.40m class and another $35,000 FEI 1.45m class beginning at 3 p.m. (CST). The afternoon class will be available via livestream on the FEI YouTube channel as well as through the USEF Network, iEquine and Practical Horseman online.
More about Valle de Bravo
The newly minted North American League Longines FEI World Cup™ qualifying season continues in 2016 in Mexico. With 10 events complete, four remain before the Finals this March in Gothenburg, Sweden. Valle de Bravo CSI**** is the first of those four events and is also the first ever FEI World Cup™ Qualifying event produced in Mexico.
Setting Latin American records right from the start, 81 International riders representing fourteen countries jogged 175 FEI horses.
Surrounded by hills blanketed by ‘arboles’ (trees), Valle de Bravo is 156 km (96 miles) northwest of Mexico City and the home of the Triple Copa (Three Cups), where champions will be awarded in three sports—show jumping, sailing and golf. It is also the home of the World Cup of ‘Parapente’ or Paragliding and the place where thousands of monarch ‘mariposas’ (butterflies) come to winter. The city center is full of history, with a 17th century cathedral, and narrow cobblestone streets filled with unique shops and restaurants.
