WELLINGTON, Fla.--Harrie Smolders of The Netherlands on Monaco won the $73,000 1.50m Classic CSI5* with a blistering jump-off time on Sunday, Feb. 28, at WEF.
Harrie Smolders on Monaco (Photo by Sportfot)A total of 46 competed in the first round with 11 qualifying for the jump-off.
Smolders, ranked 20th in the world, rode Monaco to a double-clear effort over the 1.50m track set by Anthony D’Ambrosio and Andy Christiansen of Ecuador.
The Flying Dutchman was true to his nickname as he edged the competition by just over a tenth of a second, in 38.40 seconds.
“I thought I didn’t have the best start to the jump-off but my roll back to the liverpool [fence seven] was very good,” said Smolders. “I thought it was a very serious track. There were a lot of faults in the first round. It was a very good course, but your horse needed to be in top shape.”
Daniel Deusser of Germany on Scuderia posted the time to beat ahead of Smolders, stopping the clock at 38.51 seconds.
DEUSSER had previously won Thursday’s WEF Challenge Cup Round 7 and also had a win with Kiana van het Herdershof on Friday and finished fourth on Saturday night with Killer Queen VDM.
“This week was definitely not a usual week,” said Deusser, who is poised to move up from third in the world rankings after a month of great results. “Every day I was in the top three and then fourth in the big class with three different horses. I’m very happy about it but I have to keep both feet on the ground and realize that’s not normal. It’s a luxury problem to have. If you have only one horse, it’s probably not fair to the horse because you ride them too many times. For you as a rider, it’s not good because you don’t get enough practice. To ride three or four different horses at this level, it improves you.”
Finishing third was Kent Farrington on Orafina, clean in 39.35 seconds.
“I got him when he was seven years old,” said Smolders of Monaco. “He’s grown nicely to the highest level and is very good against the clock. He’s always a top horse to have in your string. He can do a fast class but when he needs to do the grand prix classes, he’s good in those as well.”
With Smolders splitting time between competitions in the United States and Europe, the team at home keeps the horses in top shape.
“We do a lot of flat training, and when I go back and forth to Europe, I have very good staff here that I can really rely on," said Smoders. "I think we have an amazing team. My two American owners/partners Evergate Stables and Copernicus Stables, they’re fantastic for me. They’ve been great supporters for years, and I hope we can continue the partnership for a long time.”
