Carlo a brilliant 2nd in Grand Prix at Turin on the Global Champions Tour

Tue, 25 May 2010 19:57:00 +0100

After a couple of days with many horses jumping clear, if anyone had been lulled into a state of false security by these results and the beauty of their surroundings at La Mandria, Turin, Uliano Vezzani soon disposed them of that notion in the GCT Grand Prix of Italy. The first round contained a combination at Fence 5 of a vertical to an oxer with another vertical out. This ended the challenges of Kevin Staut (Sea Coast Silvana) and Ben Maher (Robin Hood W) among others. Then there was a tricky line from Fence 7 to 8, a double where Edwina Alexander (Cevo Itot du Chateau) was one of the victims. And just when the riders thought they were home a short distance to the last oxer saw the likes of Eric Lamaze (Atlete Van T'Heike) fault. But the eight clears included Jos Lansink (Valentina Van T'Heike), Rodrigo Pessoa (HH Rebozo), Jessica Kurten (Castle Forbes Libertina) and Meredith Michaels Beerbaum back to her best after having a baby on the equally brilliant Shutterfly.

Jos had been first to go and was the fast clear so had the advantage of going last in the second round. But there were 17 others to go before him over a changed course where once again a line including the double to a water tray fence caused the most problems. Harrie Smolders on yesterdays winner Exquis Walnut de Muze was the first in and his four fault round looked better and better as the phase progressed. He was rising steadily up the ranks until 8th to go Rolf Goran Bengsston put some pressure on the leaders with the first clear round. The Patrick McEntee was also clean over the fences but was left ruing two time penalties with Ever Mury Marais. Of those initially clear Penelope Leprevost and Leopold van Asten both faulted but Rodrigo Pessoa managed a second clear round and then Nick Skelton (Carlo) forced a jump off. They were joined by Marco Kutscher (Cash) and a jubilant Jessica Kurten. But there was drama to come when Meredith and Shutterfly got to the combination. Slightly off the first part, by the time he got to element C even Shutterfly could not get himself out of the trouble he was in and the horse stopped, depositing his rider unceremoniously onto the sand. Then Jos fell victim to the third fence, an oxer and the second part of the double and his chance was gone.

In the jump off Rodrigo was first into the arena and, like the next two riders, he knew last to go would be Jessica Kurten, never slow against the clock so he had to go for it. His time of 41.12 could clearly be beaten but the fences were all standing so the others would have no choice except to take it on. And Nick Skelton did. Setting Carlo alight he beat Rodrigo's time by three seconds. 38.18 might have been enough to win in lesser company but Marco Kutscher and Cash had won the Grand Prix of Italy last year and on that occasion the geldings huge stride did enough without appearing to hurry and the same happened here. The clock stopped at 37.98 and when Jessica and Libertina lowered the first part of the double, it was all over and 100′000 Euro was his.

Earlier in the day Alvaro Miranda finally got himself to the top of the leader board after a series of improving placed results with AD Norson. He won the Premio Publitala with a time of 62.52. He was chased home by Kevin Staut whose Major de Coquerie was the only horse to leave all rails intact and get with two seconds of the winner. Lauren Hough was third on her Valencia winner Prezioso.

Nick says "Carlo is only nine so I am very pleased with him but because of his age, i will not be aiming him at the World Championships this year. He will do the GCT shows and hoipefuy be really ready for e big stuff in London 2012."

Carlo wins the Adequan Grand Prix

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:23:00 +0000

$75,000 Adequan Grand Prix, CSI 2* Victory Goes to Carlo 273 and Nick Skelton at 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival

Wellington, FL - February 7, 2010 - After three major second place finishes in the first three weeks of the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, Nick Skelton (GBR) and Carlo 273, owned by Beverly Widdowson, stepped up into the winner's circle in the $75,000 Adequan Grand Prix, CSI 2*. They caught the win over Pablo Barrios (VEN) and G&C Quick Star 11, owned by Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal, and Beezie Madden (USA) on Abigail Wexner's Danny Boy.Today's class concluded competition for the fourth week of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), and the week four title sponsor is Adequan. The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of competition that conclude on April 4, 2010, and the circuit will be awarding almost $6 million in prize money through the circuit.

Michel Vaillancourt (CAN) was the course designer for today's grand prix, which featured 14 numbered obstacles and 17 fences altogether that included the open water and a triple combination. There were 35 entries, and five of them found the clear round to move on to the jump-off. "I thought it was fair, some difficult lines," Skelton said. Barrios added, "To me, it was a pretty careful course to ride, but I liked it for my horse. I felt pretty confident when I walked the course. I felt like we could go clear."

Going first in the class and first in the jump-off was Christine McCrea (USA) on Romantovich Take One, owned by Candy Tribble. McCrea and Romantovich had a mistake at jump seven in the shortened course when they accidentally jumped the wing of the standard outside of the flag marker. This eliminated them as "off course" and they finished in fifth place.

Pablo Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11 were the next to test, and they were able to go through with a clear round in 40 seconds flat. Barrios and G&C Quick Star 11, a 10-year-old Dutch mare by Quick Star xx Grannus, won the fourth round of the WEF Challenge Cup on Thursday afternoon. "At the moment, it's the best horse that we have. I've only shown her six times, and she's always in the ribbons," Barrios said.

Barrios went on to say, "I was a little early in the jump-off, so I tried to go as fast as possible. I didn't find the forward distance that I like to have. I had the feeling that someone would get my time."

Following Barrios, Richard Spooner and Pariska 2, owned by C&S Partnership LLC, had 12 faults in 40.35 seconds for fourth place. Beezie Madden and Danny Boy put in a quick round but finished just off the pace with a clear round in 40.24 seconds.

Skelton and Carlo 273, a nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Contender xx Cascavelle, took their shot at the win. Skelton made two neat rollbacks in the course, and when it came time to turn for home, Skelton pushed the grey into a very fast gallop to the final oxer. They stopped the timers in 39.72 seconds for the win.

"I knew I couldn't hang about. I watched Pablo on the screen outside. I did what I could do. Maybe I was a little bit faster to the last jump. I let it rip to the last, really," he said with a grin.

Skelton thinks that Carlo 273 is a very special horse, and believes his quirks can also be a benefit. "He's really nervous with horses coming towards him. He turns and runs the other way. He watches everything. He'll see a dog move, a child walking, or a golf cart go by, but when he goes through the start, he's a totally different horse. He lives on his nerves, but that's probably what makes him so good. This horse could be a very serious good horse," he noted. "I think he's an exceptional horse. He's very, very talented. He's fantastically careful. He has all the scope, and he's good to ride."

Carlo 273 has only had one rail in four weeks of competition, and he has been amazingly consistent. In week one, he was second in the $25,000 Suncast 1.50m Classic, and in weeks two and three, he was second in the major grand prix. "I made one mistake in the WEF on the second week. It was my fault," Skelton admitted.

For today's grand prix, Skelton felt that he could ask for a little more of Carlo 273. "It's probably as quick as I've asked him to go. I've taken a long time with him. (In the past two years), I didn't really speed him, never tried to win a class with him. Next week he'll do the 1.40m quietly, training a little bit, then go in the grand prix. When they're young, you've got to go up and down with them," he explained. "You can't put the gun to their head every day, or else they won't make 12 years old. Those horses are difficult to find, so when you have a good one, you have to look after them."

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Carlo a brilliant 2nd in Grand Prix at Turin on the Global Champions Tour

Carlo wins the Adequan Grand Prix