WELLINGTON, Fla.--Laura Chapot on Chandon Blue won the $62,500, CSI2* Grand Prix on Sunday, Feb. 25 at the Winter Equestrian Festival
Laura Chapot on Chandon Blue (Photo by Sportfot)Chapot on her longtime partner, the 19-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Chandon Blue owned by Laura and her mother Mary Chapot, was one of 11 in the jump-off from the starting field of 44.
Anthony D’Ambrosio’s jump-off course proved difficult to master, resulting in no clean rounds, so Chapot won with the fastest four fault round, finishing in a time of 35.64 seconds.
“I was a little bit surprised that there weren't any clears when I went in,” Chapot said. “But I knew I shouldn't really change the plan because I could start to get too careful, and then I did get a little too careful at the end and he did have the rail down.”
“He's got a naturally fast pace, so I wanted to try and keep it smooth and moving everywhere and hoped all the rails stayed up,” she said. “Obviously it was very unexpected to have a bunch of horses go in there and end up on four faults, so you have that in the back of your mind that you could have a rail too. You might as well keep going and then even if you have one down, you'll end up in the top of the mix.”
CHAPOT has ridden the gelding for many years and has had many victories in Wellington International’s main arena, and now the pair have found their best spot at the two-star level.
“I think this is a nice level for him at his age,” Chapot said. “It’s still a challenge, these classes are not easy, they tend to be extremely fast and tricky enough, but it's just a nice spot for him. He’ll tell us when he doesn't want to do it anymore, but right now he's all about it.”
Luis Pedro Biraben of Argentina placed second on Chacco Bumpy with four faults inf 36.06 seconds, and Grant Seger on Frieda was third.
The last five-star class had 55 competitors in the $62,500, CSI5* 1.50m Classic.
Carlos Hank Guerriero of Mexico on H5 Chacco-San won over 11 riders in the jump-off that include Olympic Champion Ben Maher of Great Britain, Saturday Nights' grand prix winner Richard Vogel of Germany and Canada’s Erynn Ballard.
Guerriero won in the very fast time of 34.22 seconds.
“Honestly he tried so hard for me out there,” Guerriero said. “I have a very, very quick horse and I know normally if I do the same strides as most horses, he's almost always quicker than them. I knew if I tried to do something similar to Ben’s round, I could be faster.”
Guerriero has the 13-year-old Hannoverian gelding for close to five years.
“He's such a competitive horse at this level that we are trying to pick and choose what competitions we put him in,” he said. “If you point him at the jump, he will do his best to clear it. His mentality is amazing; he's so careful but he's almost more brave than careful sometimes. He's a great partner for these classes.”
Maher on Faltic HB was just off Guerriero’s time, stopping the clock in 34.74 seconds to place second, and Egypt’s Nayel Nassar was third on ESI Ali.
The 2024 Hermès 1.50m Championship Jumper Series will take place weekly throughout WEF, culminating during Week 11’s Saturday Night Lights with $150,000 in prize money.
Riders who consistently compete in the series will accumulate points towards the series’ title.
