The grand finale of this year’s 13-week Winter Equestrian Festival season, the $500,000 Rolex Grand Prix CSI5*, doubles as the final Saturday Night Lights event of the Wellington, Florida, circuit. Top international riders have been aiming toward this class all season, and we’ll see 41 of them vying for the lion’s share of a half-million dollar pot.
Ones to watch include Cian O’Connor and Maurice, who just clinched the win for Ireland in the inaugural Longines League of Nations Ocala (Florida); McLain Ward and Ilex, his Paris Olympic hopeful partner; and Lillie Keenan—on a hot streak after winning both the WEF Challenge Cup and the four-star grand prix last week—who will tack up her world championship partner Argan De Beliard for the Rolex class.
There’s also Shane Sweeetnam and James Kann Cruz, who world championship bronze medalist Harry Charles said was his pick for the horse he’d most like to ride, and former World Cup champion Beat Mändli on Amiro B Z. Crowd favorite Margie Goldstein-Engle will have her veteran Dicas, and the Israeli powerhouse teams of Daniel Bluman and Ladriano Z and Ashlee Bond and Donatello 141 will also make a bid for the top check.
Don’t forget $1 Million Coachella Cup (California) winners Karl Cook and Kalinka Van’t Zorgvliet, or the Chronicle’s show jumper of the year, Kent Farrington, who will ride Landon, the horse with whom he won team gold and individual silver at last year’s Pan American Games (Chile). And of course there’s Germany’s Richard Vogel and Cepano Baloubet, the defending champions of this class, who have been on form all circuit.
One notable combination won’t be competing: Conor Swail and Casturano, the winners of Thursday’s $117,000 Adequan Challenge Cup 12, a class which many riders use as a warm-up for the Saturday grand prix. That’s because Swail’s up-and-coming mount hasn’t schooled the open water yet, which should appear Saturday night.
When:
7:30 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday
Where:
Wellington International in Wellington, Florida
Who:
The order of go is here.
How to watch:
The competition will be livestreamed on USEF Network.
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