WELLINGTON, Fla.--Daniel Duesser of Germany won once again at WEF, this time again on Kiana Van Der Herdershof in the $73,000, 1.50m Classic, while Ireland's Cian O’Connor rode Careca LS Elite to win the $50,000 Grand Prix CSI2* on Sunday, Feb. 14.
Daniel Deusser on Kiana Van Het Herershof (Photo by Sportfot)This was Deusser's second victory of the week after also winning the Grand Prix the week before.
A total of 52 competed over the 1.50m track set by Kelvin Bywater of Great Britain with 12 qualifying for the jump-off.
Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa on Carlito’s Way was first to return in the jump-off and was clean in 40.75 seconds.
Deusser was next to return with the same horse he captured the $37,000 Bainbridge 1.45m Classic CSI5* with on Friday, and he was quick from start to finish once again, finishing in 38.17 seconds, a time that could not be beaten.
“We’ve had her for a couple of years, and she’s always been a speed horse,” said Deusser of the 11-year-old BWP mare. “It’s her nature. Today it was quite a big class for her compared to two days ago, but she paid good attention. I think she likes it here with the warm weather; she feels more comfortable. I was early to go in the jump-off, but I had a very good turn from fence one to two already and was quick around towards the end, so I didn’t have to take any big risks at the end of the course. She did a really good job. She’s naturally very careful and once again, she showed that she can win a lot of classes. She’s a real trier, and I’m very lucky to have a mare like that.”
YURI MANSUR of Brazil on QH Alfons Santo Antonio was clean in 40.19 seconds to place second while Pessoa was third.
Deusser has been riding for Stephex Stables, the owner of Kiana van het Herdershof, since 2012 and has accumulated numerous wins throughout that time.
With a solid string of horses, he has been able to compete all over the world, climbing the international rankings.
“We have a fantastic team,” he said. “Our owner Stephan Conter really lets us form our own team and do our job. He always tries to get young horses and new horses that we can build up, and hopefully we’re able to show them at the big level a few years later. We have a fantastic team with everyone, the grooms, the riders at home. We really stick together, and the last few years it has showed. The whole program is very well done.”
Deusser's wife Caroline and daughter Stella have joined him at WEF.
“It’s really nice because I’ve been here for three weeks all by myself, and it’s like a holiday compared to the weather in Belgium,” he said. “Sunshine and nice temperatures instead of snow and cold at home. It’s Stella’s birthday tomorrow, she turns six, so it’s a really nice little holiday for us.”
THEN ON Sunday afternoon, O’Connor on Careca LS Elite won the $50,000 Grand Prix CSI2*, beating the seven that qualified for the jump-off from the 44 starters despite being the first to go in the starting order and first to return for the jump-off,
Cian OConnor on Careca LS Elite (Photo by Sportfot)O’Connor was double clear effort in 45.65 seconds.
“He’s a very intelligent horse with a wonderful canter,” said O’Connor. “He has a super technique in front so you can really put him close to the jumps, and he has a great way of jumping. When he’s fresh he’s a little bit keen, so he needs plenty of jumping, plenty of classes, and you can really feel there today in the jump-off he was really easy to ride. He can turn back short and he’s catty at the jumps, so it really makes my job easy to go fast on him.”
The last entry to go was the one to come closest as Rachel Cornacchia of Canada on Valkyrie De Talma, clean in 45.67 seconds. and Jennifer Waxman on Mecho Van’t Kiezelhof was third, clean in 46.07 seconds.
“I saw Careca last year through a friend of mine Enda Carroll at Ashford Farm,” said O’Connor. “We bought the horse and brought him on with some national grand prix classes in Ireland where he did well. There haven’t been many shows because of the pandemic, so it’s really about building him up and using these classes to get used to him. He’s been very good in all the national classes he’s jumped so I decided to put him up to the CSI2* this week, and he coped really well.”
The Olympic individual bronze medalist who has represented Ireland in 15 international championships has a string of up-and-coming horses at WEF this season with a very specific goal in mind for the 2021 season.
“We look at the season with an overall goal and try to work backwards from that target,” he said. “There’s obviously a lot of uncertainty with the Olympic Games but that’s still the main focus to work towards. We’re working backwards from there in terms of classes and how we produce the horses. My main horse, PSG Final, is the one I’ll be aiming at that. He’s picked up a little injury at the moment, so he’ll be out of action for about a month. I’m building up Cadiz and Kilkenny so I have ‘Plan B’ and ‘Plan C’ in place.”
O’Connor will continue to campaign for the duration of WEF while also training students at the elite level, including Nicole Walker who represents Canada and up-and-coming riders Max and Tom Wachman, who have already had success in the early stages of circuit.
