Wellington, FL – January 7, 2014 – Beautiful weather, a gorgeous venue with a lovely set of courses and fabulous hospitality kicked off the first day of The Ridge at Wellington’s 2015 Turf Tour. Wolfstone Stables and Sales Inc host this week’s events. The two rings saw a total of 77 trips throughout the day, allowing for a relaxed but very professional atmosphere welcoming to both horse and rider. With open cards throughout the day, it was quite clear that riders and trainers alike appreciated the ability to come in as it suited them. This had a pleasant byproduct of a schooling ring that never seemed to be too busy but had a constant flow of horses.
David Blake (pictured blow with horse Baron) e rode away with the top prize today in the first class of the 1.30-1.35m Jumpers at the first day of The Ridge at Wellington Turf Tour. Baron, owned by Pine Hollow Farm, is quite new to Blake. “It was his first class, we just got him a few weeks ago. So this is our first outing. We decided to bring him over since it’s quiet here and to see how he is. I’m v
ery happy with him.”
Kevin Babington had a very busy day, bringing a large group of 8-year-olds to the venue. All of the horses had jumped here last year, which proved to be quite the asset as Babington claimed several of the top prizes in both classes. His four horses in the ribbons were quite consistent, all within two seconds of one another in the first class. KEC Pineapple Swirl, owned by Kindle Hill Affiliates, produced the fastest clear round of Babington’s to finish second. Borindy, owned by Babington, was less than a half of a second behind to clinch the third place ribbon. Only a fraction over a second slower was One Kamula, also owned by Babington. Cariatide, owned by Cariatide LLC finished in sixth place, less than a tenth of a second behind One Kamula.
Babington spoke very highly of the series, “I really like this to get the circuit up and running. Both courses had a nice flow to them. They were very inviting, which is nice because it’s our first time on grass in a long time. I was very pleased with all of my horses; I thought they all liked it and handled it well. A couple of them are spooky, so it’s a good venue to get the spook out.” Babington also finished fifth in the second 1.30m class on Borindy.
Kijuan Minors rode Matana, owned by Mavis Spencer, to a fourth place finish in the first class of the day. Minors was very excited about the upcoming series, saying “I thought the course rode really nicely. The footing was amazing. I loved the atmosphere. It’s my first year here-I wanted to come last year but didn’t have a horse. Now I have good one, so hopefully I’ll be back every week.”
Alex Granato (and Zenith Dance pictured right) had a very successful day, sweeping both first and second places in the second $2500 1.30-1.35m jumper class. He discussed two of the horses that he competed: “I brought two of Woodrun Horses, owned by the Tredennick family, Zenith Dance and Cesario 15. Zenith Dance is a really fun one, an 11-year-old. Cesario 15 is a new one for us, and is an up and coming open horse.”
Granato spoke of the advantages to the Turf Series, “Nona and George have done a such a nice job producing it. It works
well to have young horses to bring along, young riders to bring along and just a little different atmosphere than Wellington every week. It’s a fun venue on grass. Of course it’s all over the area, so it’s great to see different peoples’ farms and jump at different venues.” Zenith Dance won the class, finishing with a time of 31.173 and Cesario 15 was close behind at 33.022 seconds to claim the second place ribbon.
Kama Godek had set the bar earlier in the day with Supersonic, posting a time of 33.360 that was tough to beat and held up until almost the very end of the day. Colin Syquia rode Adventure E owned by Eurasia Inc to a fourth place finish. Borindy, owned and ridden by Kevin Babington finished fifth. Toupe De Cantraie, owned by INS Rosehill, was ridden by Lauren Hough to finish sixth.
The second ring at The Ridge was busy with two low schooling jumper classes followed by two medium schooling jumper classes. Roosje Brouver rode Javier Salvador Stables’ Easy to the win in the first class of the day. Gavin Moylan was second on his own Prestige. Savannah Talcott rode Cartier, owned by American Equestrian Associates II LLC to third. Paul Yanke was fourth on his own Carle, and sixth on Lady Sparkle owned by Equinvest. Fifth went to Cynthia Hampton riding Olivia Melody owned by Hampton Farms LLC. Julianna Fischer on her own Lola won the second low schooling jumper class. Debbi White rode to second on her own Basil Hayden. Cartier, owned by American Equestrian Associates II LLC , was ridden by Savannah Talcott to claim the third place prize. Fourth went to Baby Ruth, owned and ridden by Morgan Bailey. Dexter was ridden by his owner Francois LaMontagne to a fifth place finish. Gavin Moylan finished sixth on his own Prestige.
The second division of the day in the second ring was the medium schooling jumpers. The first class saw a great deal of
success for Roosje Brouver mounted on Javier Salvador Stables’ horses, finishing first on Guanango, second on Casandia, and fifth on Baileys. Paul Yanke claimed a third on Lady Sparkle and a fourth on Carle. Alex Granato rounded out the ribbons with a sixth place on SLF Annie Lennox, owned by Josh Dolan.
The last class of the day in the medium schooling jumpers was won by Julianna Fischer on her own Calissa Z. Second place went to Shergraaf, owned by Josh Dolan and ridden by Alex Granato.
The Ridge at Wellington welcomed riders beginning at 8 a.m. and continued to see competition until 4:30 p.m. Riders have the opportunity to ride over straight from the show grounds, or trailer their horses over while enjoying unparalleled hospitality and quality competition. The Ridge series is the perfect training opportunity to help riders and horses prepare for the classes held at the Winter Equestrian Festival, helping to end the daily grind and prevent complacency throughout the circuit.
Meadowbrook Horse Transport will provide transportation to and from the horse show and other locations throughout Wellington for both the Wednesday and Friday events. The transportation is a nominal fee of $50 per horse, and will be calculated into the final show fees. To make a reservation for one of the three pickup times: 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. please call Peter Tufano of Meadowbrook Horse Transport at (954) 415-7217, or call Nona Garson at (908) 500-0996.
For more information about the Ridge at Wellington please go to www.theridgefarm.com. For up-to-date information please follow the Ridge at Wellington on Facebook.