Pablo Barrios (VEN) and G&C Quick Star 11, owned by G&C Farm of Wellington, FL, captured the top prize in tonight's $40,000 Surpass Grand Prix, CSI 2*. This was the second event of 11 in the "Saturday Night Lights" series at the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). A crowd of 4,700 spectators were there to enjoy top-class show jumping and all that the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center has to offer.

The third week of the FTI WEF concludes with tomorrow's competition. The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of competition through April 3, 2011, and they will be awarding more than $6 million in prize money through the circuit.

This week's course designer in the International Arena is Olaf Petersen Sr. of Germany. There were 41 entries in the grand prix, and 12 were able to keep all of the jumps up to advance to the jump-off.

Schuyler Riley described of the course, "The first round was a beautiful course. Rails fell everywhere. It was a very technical, precise-riding course."

The first to return in the jump-off was Quentin Judge (USA) on HH Calvano, owned by Double H Farm. They had four faults in 42.22 seconds to finish in sixth place. Brianne Goutal (USA) and Onira, owned by Remarkable Farms LP, were just slightly slower in 42.26 seconds, also with four faults, and they picked up the seventh place ribbon. Eric Lamaze (CAN) and Artisan Farms LLC's Sidoline van de Centaur had eight faults in 44.88 seconds for 11^th place.

Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11 were next in the ring and set the time to beat with a clear round in 39.87 seconds. The typey mare, who jumps in a hackamore, kept the pedal to the metal throughout and was very efficient through the turns for the win.

 

"I was early in the jump-off," Barrios recalled, "and there were no clears, so I tried to set a fast time, put a little pressure on, and see what happened with the rest of class. My mare is very fast. I did the strides everywhere so I did not take any risk and it went well.

I knew McLain would be fast, but (my horse) is very fast and even when she doesn't go fast, she still does well."

Pablo Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11

McLain Ward (USA) and Rothchild, owned by Sagamore Farm, were the next to go clear and they were just off the pace in 40.18 seconds to finish in second place.

 

 

"He feels great. He jumped really well last week, and he was beautiful tonight," Ward said of Rothchild. "He had a very nice, long rest after indoors, which was well needed. I was maybe a little conservative. Maybe I could have done one less in the line to the double; the seven might have been there. If I left it out, I could have had it down. If I had to do it again, I'd probably do the same. Pablo did well, and he has a very fast horse. He was hard to beat."

Ljubov Kochetova (RUS) and Royce were also clear, and their time of 45.42 seconds slotted them into fourth place. Christine McCrea (USA) with Baloubet Junior Z, owned by Candy Tribble and Windsor Show Stables, had a rail in 42.39 seconds for eighth place. Riding Lionshare Farm's Select, Peter Leone (USA) accumulated eight faults in 42.01 seconds for 10^th place.

Schuyler Riley (USA) and Lapacco, owned by South Beach Stables, were the next to go clear. They set a time of 43.79 seconds and finished in third place.

 

"My horse hasn't been doing the grand prix (classes) for a while," Riley explained. "We had an injury and then a trailer accident, so he was just coming back this fall. For me going in, he is a fast horse across the ground. He can be a little slow in the turns. I was not sure if he was really ready to beat Pablo and McLain today."

She said of Lapacco's performance, "He is really good at night. He's a super brave horse, (with) a lot of scope and rideability. He actually improves at night, and he likes the lights and the crowds. It makes him tune into me more."

Andrew Bourns (IRL) and his own Gowran Park had one rail down in 46.43 seconds for ninth place. Emily George (CAN) and Julie George's Quidam's Ramiro retired in the jump-off and finished in 12^th place. The final entry, Andres Rodriguez (VEN) and Larkanaro, had the fastest time of the night in 37.86 seconds, but an unfortunate four faults at the second to last fence relegated him to fifth place.

Barrios competed with G&C Quick Star 11 last week in the 1.40m Jumpers, where they won the class in a jump-off. For tonight's class, Barrios felt that the course suited his mare. "I really liked the course for the mare when I walked it," he acknowledged. "At this height she feels very comfortable. She can jump bigger, but at this height she answers every question. She is one of my best horses."

Pablo Barrios and G&C Quick Star with ringmaster Cliff Haines, Gustavo Mirabal of G&C Farm, and Donna DuRant of Surpass

 

Barrios plans to compete with G&C Quick Star 11 in the $150,000 FEI World Cup Grand Prix, presented by Spy Coast Farm, during week 5 of the FTI WEF, the class he won last year with G&C LaGran.

Tomorrow is the final day of week three at the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, and the highlight class of the day is the Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Classic in the International Arena at 2 p.m.

For full results please visit www.showgroundslive.com and for more information, visit www.equestriansport.com.

 

Final Results: $40,000 Surpass CSI 2* Grand Prix

 

1 G&C QUICK STAR 11: 2000 KWPN mare by Quick Star x Grannus
PABLO BARRIOS (VEN), G&C Farm: 0/0/39.87

 

2 ROTHCHILD: 2001 SBS gelding by Artos x Elegant De L'Ile
MCLAIN WARD (USA), Sagamore Farms: 0/0/40.18

3 LAPACCO: 1999 Holsteiner gelding by Lavaletto x Grundyman
SCHUYLER RILEY (USA), South Beach Stables: 0/0/43.79

 

4 ROYCE: 2004 Oldenburg stallion by Café au lait x Grandilot
LJUBOV KOCHETOVA (RUS), Ljubov Kochetova: 0/0/45.42

 

5 LARKANARO: 2000 Hanoverian gelding by Landclassic x Gluckspilz
ANDRES RODRIGUEZ (VEN), Andres Olivares/Andres Rodriguez: 0/4/37.86

 

6 HH CALVANO: 2002 BWP gelding by Clinton x Latano
QUENTIN JUDGE (USA), Double H Farm: 0/4/42.22

7 ONIRA: 1996 KWPN gelding by Nimmerdor x Ramiro
BRIANNE GOUTAL (USA), Remarkable Farms LP: 0/4/42.26

8 BALOUBET JUNIOR Z: 2000 Zangersheide stallion by Baloubet Du Rouet x Darco
CHRISTINE MCCREA (USA), Candy Tribble & Windsor Show Stables: 0/4/42.39

9 GOWRAN PARK: 2001 Irish Sporthorse mare by Obos Quality 004 x Duca Di Busted
ANDREW BOURNS (IRL), Andrew Bourns: 0/4/46.43

10 SELECT: 1999 KWPN gelding by Damiro x Voltaire
PETER LEONE (USA), Lionshare Farm: 0/8/42.01

11 SIDOLINE VAN DE CENTAUR: 2002 SBS mare by Heartbreaker x Vondel Van Het Hendrixhof
ERIC LAMAZE (CAN), Artisan Farms LLC: 0/8/44.88

12 QUIDAM'S RAMIRO: 1997 Holsteiner Gelding by Quidam De Revel x Ramiro
EMILY GEORGE (CAN), Julie George: 0/RET

Photo Credit: Pablo Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11 won the $40,000 Surpass Grand Prix, CSI 2* during the second week of the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Photo © Sportfot, Official Sport Photographer of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival,  www.sportfot.com.