15 January '25
Iron Maiden and HST Cartouche win direct at Wellington International
© Sportfot
It was busy days on US soil last weekend, with three-star competitions taking place at both Wellington International and Ocala's World Equestrian Centre. At Wellington International, the starting shot was given of the 12-week Winter Equestrian Festival, where immediately some Z-horses managed to jump into the spotlight!
Wellington's famous Winter Equestrian Festival started on Thursday and during that opening day, the first stage of the WEF Challenge Cup also featured important classes. In it, victory was reserved for Colombian rider Roberto Teran Tafur and the 10-year-old grey stallion Iron Maiden, a son of Clarimo ASK and Kashmir van Schuttershof born to his Belgian breeder Titus Vereecke as Cadans van de IJzervallei Z. Teran Tafur and Iron Maiden saw a bar roll out of the scoops in the first round of this 1.55m class, but a sharp finishing time still put them among the top 12 combinations who managed to qualify for a second round. In that decisive round, the penalty point counters were again set to zero, which was excellent news for Teran Tafur and his Iron Maiden. This time the duo did keep all the bars keuring in the scoops and with a whirlwind finishing time of 41.63 seconds they managed to write this first WEF Challenge Cup of the season on their record!
Roberto Teran Tafur: "He has great technique. He is light off the ground, sensitive and a real modern type, but at the same time very rideable. He is a fantastic prospect for the big sport - he lets you place him exactly where it is optimal for him to jump faultlessly at the jump."
But the2nd place in this section was also taken by a Z-horse thanks to Irish rider Shane Sweetnam's 9-year-old chestnut stallion Coriaan Van Klapscheut Z, a breeding product of the van Rossem family of Mivaro BVBA who combined the blood of Comme Il Faut with that of Lord Z. Sweetnam and Coriaan Van Klapscheut Z also kept nicely clear in that decisive round, but needed 43.39 seconds to reach the finishing line.
Also in the top five of the standings at this WEF Challenge Cup we saw US rider Caroline Mawhinney with the 12-year-old gelding Carsey Z, the son of Carthino Z and Guidam bred in the Netherlands by G.H. and H. Morsink. Mawhinney and Carsey Z ran into 4 penalties in the jump-off and this result earned them 5th place in the standings. During the CSI3* Grand Prix on Saturday evening, they also managed to finish 7th. Then, too, the duo saw a fault in the jump-off.
Fourth place in the CSI3* Grand Prix was then taken by Mawhinney's compatriot Charlotte Jacobs and the 10-year-old gelding Playboy JT Z, with the letters JT referring to breeder Johan Thijs of Horsestud Thijs BVBA. In a jump-off for which 14 combinations managed to qualify, Jacobs guided the son of Presley Boy and Plot Blue safely to the finish in 39.31 seconds, thus just missing out on a place on the Grand Prix podium.
In addition to Roberto Teran Tafur and Iron Maiden's victory at the WEF Challenge Cup, the opening day on Thursday also saw Brazilian rider Gabriel De Matos Machado winning with the 14-year-old stallion HST Cartouche, a son of Carthoes - B Z and Chester Z from the breeding farm of Haras Santa Therezinha. During the 1.40m class against the clock, they managed to ensure a flawless round and with a finishing time of 65.03 seconds, they had a lead of 3 hundredths of a second over the competition.