IRELAND’S Paul O’Shea was definitely in sparkling form at the three-star WEC Winter Wonderland show at Ocala, Florida last week. He secured a number of wins and podium finishes across various classes, with the highlight being a fantastic win in the $120,000 Lugano Diamonds CSI3* 1.50m Grand Prix with Imerald Van’T Voorhof.
A start list of 43 competitors, representing 14 different nations took on a course designed by Mexico’s Catsy Cruz. Just 11 combinations managed to negotiate the first-round track without fault, with seven of them repeating their clear round success second time out.
O’Shea was last to go in the jump-off and the time to beat had been set by first in, Columbia’s Ilan Bluman on Acajou (37.02). O’Shea said of his veteran partner, 16-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, Imerald Van’t Voorhof: “Imerald has been with me since he was nine, and he’s an incredible horse. He’s still winning at 16. Just this year, he’s won three Grands Prix. He feels great, as good as ever.”
O’Shea had watched Bluman’s round, which had given him food for thought: “I didn’t think there were seven strides in line one, but after seeing Ilan do it, I knew I had to try. From there, I just kept going forward and, to the last fence, I was surprised how easily Imerald got up there,” he said.
O’Shea flew round the course and cleared the final Lugano Diamonds oxer, stopping the clock at 36.40 seconds to secure the win and the top prize of $39,600.
Following his success, O’Shea thanked his team: “I’m so grateful to his owners - Patricia Hurter, Andrea Sinner and the Tisbo Family - for trusting me with him, and I can’t thank Davide Troncanetti and Paula Moverley enough for taking such great care of him.”
In the ribbons
Jumping got under way at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala last Wednesday, December 3rd and ran until Sunday, December 8th.
The first class on Wednesday’s schedule, the $1,000 CSI3* 1.40m, saw a runner-up finish for Claremorris, Co Mayo rider Cormac Hanley on For Dad, while O’Shea and Imerald Van’T Voorhof placed seventh.
O’Shea went on to take third and fifth places in the $32,000 CSI3* 1.45m class with Squirt Gun and Primo CBI Cornet respectively.
The Irish man then won the $1,000 1.35m class on board Funk Yeah in a very fast time of 61.79 seconds – his closest rival (Switzerland’s Beat Mandli on Gianni De Coco) was almost four seconds behind in 65.35.
Thursday saw O’Shea finish third in the $1,000 1.35m class riding Valantus, when they jumped double clear in a phase two time of 37.29.
O’Shea came out on top of the $63,000 CSI3* 1.50m class, which saw a start list of 61. He and Squirt Gun jumped double clear in a jump-off time of 33.82 seconds to claim the winning prize pot of $20,790. Runner-up position went to America’s Richard A Spooner on Halcon nearly a second behind (34.67), while Chloe D Reid (USA) on Crossover 4 placed third. Another Irish man, Robert Blanchette, finished eighth in the class on board Chardonnay, with four faults in the jump-off in a time of 36.45.
There was another podium finish for O’Shea in Friday’s $32,000 CSI3* 1.45m Winning Round class, when he rode Primo CBI Cornet double clear in a second-round time of 43.72 for third place. The winner, Alessandra Volpi (USA) on Glamour stopped the clock in 40.20, while runner-up Luis Pedro Biraben (ARG) on Chacco Bumpy finished in a time of 41.65.
In Saturday’s $10,000 1.35-1.40m class, O’Shea on Spy came seventh, when double clear in a jump-off time of 44.76. The class was won by Samuel Parot (CHI) on Buga Z (39.98).
Blanchette and Carnlea Premier Balou placed sixth in Sunday’s $7,500 1.40m class. The pair were among just six of the 23 starters to jump clear in the first round to get through to the jump-off. They rode the jump-off course in the fastest time, but a pole fell, to leave them in sixth place.