The 2017 Palm Beach Masters CSI3*-W kicked off under clear blue skies on Thursday, February 2, 2017. Held at the private, Deeridge Farm in Wellington, Florida, it’s clear that in its second year, the popularity of the Palm Beach Masters has grown many times over. One just had to browse the entry list for the $35,000 CP Welcome Stake—over 100 entries signed up to participate.

With such a high amount of combinations participating, the Welcome was split into Section A and Section B, with two prizegivings, two victory gallops, and the winning rider earning the opportunity to take home a share of $35,000 prize money for each section.

 

Adam Prudent Tops Section A
Adam Prudent went late in the order in the A section of the $35,000 CP Welcome, but with a record of speed wins aboard Plain Bay Sales’ Vasco, it was inevitable that he would be a favorite to win.

Ireland’s Alan Wade designed the opening, 1.45m track. Section B of the Welcome featured a different track course entirely, and both tracks were friendly, with forward galloping fences and options between jumps. Many riders used their time in the sweeping grass field christened the Hollow Brook Wealth Management Arena to familiarize their horses with the conditions, while others went for a top placing.

Laura Kraut had set the time to beat early in the order aboard Confu, a 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Contact Me x Cambridge) owned by St. Bride’s Farm.

 

Laura Kraut & Confu

 

“To be honest, after I went I thought I would be happy with 6th or 7th,” she said. “I didn’t think I would even stay in the lead. It was pretty inevitable when you go in a class like that, that somebody is going to get you. But I ‘m happy with 2nd today. My horse hasn’t jumped since the beginning of November and this was his first class back.”

 

Prudent topped Kraut’s time in the single round speed class by three quarters of a second. Vasco, a 15-year-old KWPN gelding (Andiamo x Clinton) took to the open grass field, which for the last year has undergone renovations that truly showed today. Even with over 100 rounds jumped, by the end of the day, the grass showed little signs of wear and tear.

 

“This venue is outstanding,” Prudent said. “It’s so refreshing to come here and ride on grass. It was a great, great feeling to jump in there.”

 

 

One-Two Finish For Daniel Coyle In Section B
Ireland’s young breakout star Daniel Coyle added another victory to his already impressive season of wins when he took home both 1st and 2nd place in the B section of the $35,000 CP Welcome CSI3*. Coyle rode second in the order in Section B, clocking a time of 57.13 seconds aboard Simba de La Roque that only he himself would be able to come close to. He later rode Cita to 2nd place.

Coyle, who recently took over as the main rider for Susan and Ariel Grange of Lothlorien Farms from Conor Swail, admits to having had a bit of an adjustment period, acclimating himself to the characters and talents of his mounts.

Daniel Coyle, winner of Section B of the Welcome.

 

However, with strong performances aboard the 11-year-old Selle Francis gelding Simba de la Roque (Kannan x Allegreto) and his $75,000 Rosenbaum Mollengarden Grand Prix winning mount Cita, an 11-year-old Holsteiner mare (Casall x Pik Ramiro), Coyle is proving that his adjustment period may well be coming to a close.

 

“Both horses I rode today have been great, so I’m very happy,” expressed a humble Coyle.

“[Simba] is only jumping one class here so the plan the whole time was to go and try and win that class on him,” Coyle explained. “He’s rather new to me and I think Cita and Grafton are probably better horses for the World Cup here, so my plan was to come here and just do well in that class with him. Unfortunately, I was second to go [in the order] so it made it a little bit harder but I just had a plan from the start and I just stuck to it.”

 

Fresh off competition at the Mercedes-Benz Zurich CSI5* in Switzerland only a week before, was Thursday’s 3rd place finisher Yuri Mansur Guerios of Brazil and the 10-year-old grey gelding Sire One (Silverstone x Ahorn).

“For me, [the class] was super as well because I just arrived from Zurich last week and this horse has never jumped in a grass arena so I was a little bit unsure about what would happen,” Mansur Guerios commented.

 

Competition at Deeridge Farm continues with the $35,000 Sovaro® Palm Beach Masters Grand Prix Qualifier, Friday, February 3, 2017 at 2:00pm EST and will livestream online via usefnetwork.com. You can also catch all the action of the weekend’s highlight event, the $216,000 FEI World Cup™ Jumping Wellington via live-stream on feitv.org, Sunday at 12:00 pm.

 

Full results for the $35,000 CP Welcome Stake available here.

 

See the article on Noelle Floyd.