OCALA, Fla.--Brazilian Olympian Santiago Lambre on Chacco Blue II won he $100,000 Grand Prix at the World Equestrian Center on Saturday evening, Feb. 25.
Santiago Lambre on Chacco Blue II (Photo by Andrew Ryback)Seven riders representing the United States, Netherlands, Brazil and Australia were clean over Colm Quinn’s first round course.
Thursday’s Welcome Prix winner, Tracy Fenney on MTM Apple, was the first in the jump-off and had four faults in 42.342 seconds, followed by Jelmer Hoekstra of the Netherlands on Orlando Van Klapscheut, clean in 44.532 seconds to set the time to beat.
Brianne Goutal-Marteau on Viva Columbia was clean in 47.187 seconds, and Lambre was the next to go on Chacco Blue II.
“I watched Tracy, and she was quick, but had the fence down," said Lambre. I" know that was going to be the time to beat.”
“Chacco Blue II is a slow mover, but has a mile long step and can turn very well," he said. "Tonight, he showed his speed. I tried to gallop everywhere I could and be tight back to the second to last vertical. Luckily for us, both tight turns were on his good side, and not blind side. If it were on his blind eye side I would’ve had to give him a touch more room, but this course was perfect for him. Then to the last line I just kept kicking, I am not even sure how many I did, but I just tried to go as fast as I could.”
LAUREN BALCOMB of Australia on Verdini D’Houtveld Z was next, and was clean in 43.272 seconds, just one tenth of a second behind Lambre to place second.
Dorothy Douglas on MTM Pablo was the last to go and was clean, just short of the time in 43.372 seconds to place third.
“It wasn’t the plan to show this week," said Lambre. "He had two weeks off after the five-star, and he is going to show here at World Equestrian Center – Ocala next week in the three-star. He needed to jump a bit and it was either going to be at home or here, so I decided to enter him in the class two days ago. I am happy with the outcome, and I am looking forward to next week’s CSI3*.”
IN DRESSAGE, local trainer Allison Gerlt won all four of her tests with her two horses, Sir Lommel and Lavatijn Van Kairos at the back-to-back Dressage XIII, Feb. 22-24, and Dressage XIIII, Feb. 25-26, USEF/USDF-rated shows at the World Equestrian Center that included classes from Training Level to FEI Grand Prix and was an official qualifying competition for the 2022 Great American/USDF Regional Championships.
Gerlt rode two Grand Prix Freestyle tests on the 16-year-old Sir Lommel (‘Lonnie’), scoring 72.15% in the first, and then 73.125% in the second.
She has had the gelding by Sir Donnerhall for almost a decade and through Juniors and Young Riders, but it has taken time, and a move from her native Illinois to Florida in 2019, to figure out how to bring out the best in him.
“The last time I did Lonnie’s freestyle was in 2019 at the Festival of Champions, before we figured out what works for him in life, and he got 59% or something horrendous,” said the 27-year-old, who trains with Belinda Nairn-Wertman and Anne Gribbons. “The other tests went pretty well, but he doesn’t love music. Now we can use the soundproof ear bonnets, and he needs a quiet mind to think everything through."
“He’s a very typical Sir Donnerhall, in that they’re very inconsistent but when they show up, they fully show up,” she said. “His FEI scores were pretty tumultuous, and there hadn’t been a lot of consistency until I moved to Florida and nailed down what he needed.”
Lonnie’s program consists of Gerlt getting up at 4:30 a.m. daily — to feed him before all the other horses at 6 a.m. and ride him first at 7:30 a.m. In the summer it’s even earlier.
“We first did big tour in December 2021 and spent all last year doing as many as we could that he was ready for,” she said. “Belinda has really helped him come out of his grand prix shell and now he feels stronger and better than ever."
“With his hectic and unreliable past[in the freestyle it was unnerving for me to come to WEC – Ocala, as I didn’t want a bad score on his record, but you also need experience," she said. "It’s a toss-up. Now that he’s confident in his own skin, he came out in that freestyle in a positive and exciting way.” a
Her small tour horse Lavatijn Van Kairos (‘Lava’) was imported after Nairn-Wertman found him in the Netherlands and arrived at Gerlt’s barn on Feb. 20, 2022, her 26th birthday.
At WEC, the 7-year-old gelding by Expression logged two wins at Prix St. Georges level, with 68.382% and 69.412%.
“He’s very powerful and because he’s so young he thinks he knows what he’s doing, but he throws everything at the wall and, in the tests, it turned into tension moments,” said Gerlt, who is based just down the road from WEC – Ocala in Golden Hills. “Lava’s 17.1 hands high and a massive mover, so handling all that at such a young age is daunting for him and hard to manage as a rider, but it’s such a rush."
“He was the best birthday present ever,” she said. “He has so much to give, and we let him go at his own pace, but also teach him the things he needs to know to be a future FEI horse. As much ambition as I feel in him, I think he could get fried as he gives everything every ride. It’s such a fine line between protecting and pushing them.”
Another locally based rider, Alejandro Salazar, picked up a win and three second places with his two horses.
He rode Janice Dulak’s 6-year-old gelding Finnegan RF tonwin Saturday’s Second Level Test 1, beating the 12 entrants across all divisions with 71% — 3.4% percentage points ahead of the field.
Salazar, who is a jumping and dressage rider and USDF Gold Medalist, had two second places at First Level on his other horse, Will Scarlett.
Janine Little had three wins from three starts, including two on Zothens Colani, a chestnut stallion by Cosmopolitan NRW, who scored over 70% at First Level, with his top score of the show, 73.4%, coming at Training Level.
Little also rode Elexis Ortlieb’s Westphalian gelding For Fun at Third Level, winning Test 3 with 69.188%.
