The main show jumping competition at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, which was endowed with 500,000 dollars, was contested among 41 pairs at noon on Saturday. Spencer Smith with Quibelle had moved up into the starting field after Margie Goldstein Engle was unable to compete. The 25-year-old took his chance and qualified for the jump-off with a clear round.
The necessary bit of luck was not on the side of the defending champion Daniel Deusser with Killer Queen VDM this time, the pair had a fault at an oxer. Nevertheless, Deusser can be happy about the 10,000 dollars prize money and a top ten placement.
In addition to Deusser, other top favourites reached the finish line with faults, such as Olympic gold medallist Ben Maher on Ginger Blue and Philipp Weishaupt with Coby.
In the end, only five riders qualified for the decisive jump-off: Besides Spencer Smith, these were Chloe Reid, Ashlee Bond, Daniel Coyle and Daniel Bluman.
Only three riders remained clear in the jump-off. Ashlee Bond was the fastest to reach the finish line with Karoline by Ballmore and took the victory to Israel. Bond's compatriot Daniel Bluman placed silver in the saddle of Ladriano Z and thus made the Israeli double victory perfect. Chloe Reid and her trainer team Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Markus Beerbaum were delighted with third place. Fourth place went to Daniel Coyle ahead of Spencer Smith. Sixth place, with only one time fault in the round, went to Zoe Conter and Davidoff de Lassus.
