THERE were two main highlights at the WEF Premiere show at Wellington International, Florida, over the weekend with the $75,000 Battle of the Sexes class on Saturday night and the $75,000 WEF Premiere Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. Irish riders featured in the ribbons in both classes.
Sunday’s $75,000 WEF Premiere Grand Prix saw 29 combinations take on courses designed by Eric Hasbrouck (USA), with 12 jumping clear over the first-round track and proceeding to the jump-off. Two of them each had a pole down in round two, leaving 10 who completed double clear rounds.
When Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam and his mount Gilona AO took on the jump-off course, they flew round in a time of 34.24 seconds to take the lead. Unfortunately for them, Germany’s Richard Vogel was on top form and he guided Event De L’Heribus around the course in an even faster time of 34.086 to claim the winner’s prize. American rider Jacqueline Ruyle completed the podium for the home side riding Cyramo Z (35.065).
Remarkably, this was Vogel’s first show with this 10-year-old German-bred gelding (Emir De Vy x Komanche Des Fontenis).
“I’m very excited about our future with him,” said Vogel afterwards, who is based in Wellington for the winter season. “It’s a super way to start the season and a spectacular way to begin our partnership.”
Vogel said of his impressive jump-off record: “Nowadays, our sport is so fast. I think it’s for sure an advantage to already have a naturally fast horse and I like those types of horses. If a horse jumps a lot of clear rounds, but is a little bit slow, it’s also a very good horse, but to win a class is obviously easier on a naturally fast horse.”
Vogel is currently ranked number six in the world and this was evident in Wellington, as he had also won the $35,000 WEF Challenge Cup Premiere Round last Thursday with the nine-year-old Levi Noesar, a old Dutch Warmblood (Zirocco Blue VDL x Baloubet du Rouet), owned by Patrick Mielnik.
The German Olympian set a super-fast jump-off time of 29.506 seconds to take the win in that class, almost three seconds ahead of Alison Robitaille (USA) riding Oakingham Lira in 32.336 seconds. Brazil’s Celso Ariani on JIP Van T&L Z finished third in a time of 32.889 seconds.
Battle of the Sexes
The opening ‘Saturday Night Lights’ event of the 2025 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), held under the sparkling lights of Wellington International, was the $75,000 Battle of the Sexes, where Ireland was well-represented on the boys’ team by Christian Coyle on Chicago CM and Jordan Coyle riding CBI Mrs Kroon.
Show jumping fans watched horses and riders, decked out in blue and pink, and cheered for their favourites.
After some exciting jumping, the boys claimed victory for the third year in-a-row, boosting their overall win tally in the event’s 15-year history to five. The winning boys’ team on Saturday evening was led by captain Charlie Jayne and included Christian Coyle, Jordan Coyle, Alex Granato, Luis Larrazabal, Tony Stormanns, Sohnke Theymann and Michael Tokaruk.
The 2025 Battle of the Sexes went to the boys for the third year in a row at the WEF Premiere Show at Wellington International. The team included Christian Coyle and Jordan Coyle \ Sportfot
This year’s girls’ team consisted of team captain Kelly Soleau, along with Mia Bagnato, Alexis Bodo, Amanda Derbyshire, Kyla Makhloghi, Abigail McArdle, Brittni Raflowitz and Audrey Schulze - many of whom were making their Battle of the Sexes debut.
The Battle of the Sexes competition consists of three phases, the first of which is a Table C faults-converted speed course, where the riders are matched and compete individually over the course. The rider with the fastest time gains a point for their team. After phase one, the boys’ team had the advantage at five to three.
In phase two, each team had two relay groups, where a trio of riders faced a section of the course with five points up for grabs. McArdle, Derbyshire and Raflowitz led off with a win for the girls, but the boys answered with five more on the board. Larrazabal, Stormanns and Granato kept the boys’ hopes alive, with the score sitting at eight versus 10, with only one round remaining.
The final phase was a match race, where riders competed head-to-head at the same time over a course that mirrored itself in the ring. Three points were up for grabs for each race, and the fate of the evening was decided in the fifth round, with Granato beating Raflowitz.
In front of a sold-out Wellington International, the final score stood at 25 to 11 in the boys’ favour. In the individual placings for the class, Christian claimed fourth place, while Jordan finished eighth.
“The crowd really gets us excited,” said 2019 US Pan American Games bronze medallist Alex Granato, who clinched the win for his team. “In terms of show jumping, we don’t ever get to do anything like this; having other riders in the ring at the same time and going head-to-head. It’s a great class to start us off for the season. The courses can get tricky, especially as we get into the relay with lots of tight turns after that first round, because we’re also trying to focus on ground speed.”
In conclusion, McArdle motivated the girls by saying: “We tried really hard and we are going to get right back at them next year!”
In the ribbons
Jumping at Wellington International kicked off for the New Year on Wednesday, January 1st, with the WEF Premiere show hosting a wide range of show jumping classes and Irish riders featured in the placings.
Michael Hutchinson was the first of these, when he rode Labaomi W into second place in the $8,000 1.45m Open Jumper class in a jump-off time of 43.038. He was only beaten by British rider Max Routledge on board Ascadina PPZ (41.005).
Sweetnam got off the mark last Thursday, when he steered Gilona AO into fourth place in the $8,000 1.45m Open Jumper class. The top three in the class were very familiar names, with Daniel Bluman (ISR) on Kapitaal L taking first place, followed by Marie Hecart (FRA) on Edonna D’Udine in second and Jad Dana (LBN) on Know It All in third.
The $2,000 1.30m Open Jumper class saw Christian Coyle on Chicago CM place ninth out of 52 starters, when he was among the 16 combinations to jump double clear.
Saturday’s $25,000 Hermes Championship Jumper Classic (National Standard) saw a great run for Ireland, with three in the top 10, with Cian O’Connor on Belvedere taking second place, Tom Wachman on Do It Easy placing seventh and Hutchinson on Labaomi W in ninth.
WEF runs through until March 30th in Wellington, Florida.