Luis Larrazabal Leads the $10,000 FEI 1.40m Welcome Victory Gallop

Luis Larrazabal (VEN) and Baroness. Photo by Jessica Buehler Photography

Myakka City, Fla. – Feb. 17, 2023 – TerraNova Hunter/Jumper Week 1 international competition kicked off with the FEI jog with all 36 horses presented to the ground jury passing inspection. The day's feature class, the $10,000 FEI 1.40m Welcome Speed, was designed by Bernardo Costa Cabral, an FEI Level 4 Course Designer from Lisbon, Portugal. Cabral has designed courses for the $350,000 HITS Thermal CSI5* Grand Prix, Royal Windsor Horse Show CSI 5*, National Championships of Chile, Split Rock Jumping Tour and many other CSI5*, 4* and 3* courses in over nine countries. In April, he will design the courses for the FEI World Cup™ Finals Omaha 2023. 

"It's a very welcoming course," Cabral said. "I'll see the riders today and take a look at how they perform and then I can tighten a notch for tomorrow or keep the same kind of difficulty. I was (a rider) many years ago. You don't need to be a rider to be a good designer, but for me, it's important because I try to design tracks I would like to ride. It's important to be special and (have) some different turns and it's all about the flow."

Adolpho Franco (BRA) and Haena. Photo by Jessica Buehler Photography

The FEI Welcome Speed course consisted of 12 obstacles with two one-stride combinations for a total of 14 fences and a time allowed of 84 seconds. As the ninth rider to go, Olympian Daniel Bluman (ISR) and Cachemire de Braize (Quality Touch x Pashmina de Braize- Jaguar Mail), owned by Over the Top Stables LLC, blazed across the track in 63.16 seconds, taking the lead. Seventeen riders later, Adolpho Franco (BRA) and Hanea (Cardento x Dolcunea O.A.), owned by Capital Equine LLC, took a stride out of the opening bending line and took the lead when they crossed the timers at 62.22 seconds.

As the last to go, Luis Larrazabal (VEN) and Baroness (Balous Bellini x Powergirl), owned by LeeAnn Ablin, entered the ring. Franco had the time to beat. Larrazabal and Baroness took all four inside turns that Cabral had noted as time savers, shaving precious time off the clock. They left all the rails in the cups and finished on 61.55 seconds to win the $10,000 FEI 1.40m Welcome Speed. 

"It was a nice class to start for the 2*, very friendly," Larrazabal said. "At the end, it's a speed class. I know I have a very fast mare, so I gave it a shot. She's very quick off the ground, she knows her job and so I just try to stay out of her way and let her go the way she likes. It was my lucky day, I guess!" 

When asked if he knew he was fast enough to win the class, he shared, "I didn't know until I jumped (the last) and saw the screen!"

Larrazabal competed at TerraNova Equestrian Center in 2022 for the first time when they hosted Split Rock Jumping Tour. "The facility is growing. I am very excited (as) I am from Wellington, so I am very close to the show. I am excited to come more in the future," he said. 

Kim Buzby and Willoughby. Photo by EQ Media

Meanwhile, the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby was underway on the other side of the VIP Pavilion in the main hunter ring. Ten horse-and-rider combinations navigated the first round of Dean Battaglia's hunter derby course. 

"The first round was a hunter round with hunter-style jumps with the four high options," Battaglia said. "Then the riders came back, lowest score to highest score, for their handy rounds, again with four (high) options, with some more technical turns, more options in the course for them to present their handiness," 

Battaglia included a trot fence and several turn options in the second round. The course included custom-made natural obstacles decorated with greenery and featured foxes and bourbon barrels. He designed the course to be welcoming to younger horses and riders with straightforward lines while including a high-low option of a vertical to an oxer as a two-stride combination. 

Hailey Royce and My Lord Versace. Photo by EQ Media

With only one point difference between their first-round scores, it was a close ride-off between Hailey Royce on My Lord Versace (Mylord Cartha x Versace - Contender), owned by Mia Green, and Kim Buzby on Willoughby (Edward x Brown Sugar), owned by Shayne Mackey. They returned for the handy round on scores of 87 and 86, respectively. Although Buzby took one less high option than Royce at jump five, an oxer headed towards the in-gate, she rode a more efficient track during the handy round. They both received a score of 89 from the judge. Willoughby and Buzby were awarded first with a score of 176 and My Lord Versace and Royce were second with 175. 

Buzby traveled to TerraNova for the first time from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. "I am so excited to be here with my clients. The weather is great. This property is amazing," she said. "I have a couple of friends that told me I should check it out and I wanted to see something different and something new, so I decided to come. I'll be here next week!"

"My horse Willoughby is an ex-dressage horse, so he's new to this," Buzby said. "The course was beautiful and really well-made and the jumps are fantastic. My horse really jumped well across the course and the footing is fantastic. He just had a great performance. I have never done a handy round on him, so in the second round, I didn't know what to expect, and he jumped it great. I was very happy with him."

Competition resumes Saturday at 8 a.m. with TerraNova's feature class $77,300 FEI CSI 2* 1.45m Grand Prix at 11 a.m. 

$10,000 FEI 1.40m Welcome Speed Results

1. Baroness / Luis Larrazabal (VEN) / LeeAnn Ablin / 61.55 / 0
2. Hanea / Adolpho Franco (BRA) / Capital Equine LLC / 62.22 / 0
3. Cachemire de Braize / Daniel Bluman (ISR) / Over the Top Stables LLC / 63.16 / 0
4. Sonic Boom / Hailey Royce (USA) / Forget Me Not Farm / 63.2 / 0
5. Duverie / Rupert Carl Winkelmann (GER) / Eickendorf Horses / 63.81 / 0
6. Caprisco / Bertram Allen (IRL) / Ballywalter Stables / 65.16 / 0
7. Omar Van de Hunters / Rupert Carl Winkelmann (GER) / 65.4 / 0
8. Hollywood de Rase Z / Angela Covert (CAN) / Angela Covert / 66.9 / 0 
9. Exagon RBC Z  / Chris Sorensen (CAN) / Sorensen Stables / 67.29 / 0
10. Luis P / Chloe Reid (USA) / Live Oak Plantation / 68.66 / 0