McLain Ward and Antares F win $31,000 WEF Challenge Cup 5 in Ecogold's Hunter Saddle Pad
The fifth round of the $31,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series was held on Thursday afternoon at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center with a victory for McLain Ward (USA) and Grant Road Partners' Antares F. The pair was the fastest of three clear jump-off rounds in the class to win over 64 starters.
Today's $31,000 WEF Challenge Cup grand prix was held over a course designed by Alan Wade of Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Nine out of the original 64 entries jumped clear over the first round course to jump off, and only three jumped clear to finish at the top.
McLain Ward, who rides in ECOGOLD's Hunter Saddle Pad, and Antares F had the fastest clear round in 40.85 seconds to earn first place. Pablo Barrios (VEN) and G&C Quick Star 11 finished in second place with their time of 41.94 seconds, and Jennifer Crooks (IRL) rode S.F. Uryadi, owned by Olivia Cox-Fill and Stella Farm, into third place with a clear round in 51.34 seconds. The remaining six horses in the jump-off all had four faults, with the fastest of those four-fault rounds placing Nick Skelton (GBR) and Carlo 273, owned by Beverly Widdowson, into fourth place.
The winning combination of McLain Ward and Antares F is a fairly new partnership within the last six months, and Ward noted that he and the eleven-year-old Baden-Württemberger gelding (by Araconit x Cento) are gradually getting to know each other. "We are still learning different things and I do not think we have it exactly right yet, but we are close and we keep winning pretty decent classes," Ward stated. "That class today was as hard to win as any grand prix anywhere in the world. We had almost 70 of the best and it was difficult."
Video - McLain Ward and Antares F at the CSI**** Brussels - December 2010
"I think Alan Wade is a great course builder," Ward continued. "I love his courses; I think they make sense from a rider's point of view. They are not gimmicky or false, what you see is what you get, but at the same time that was a very challenging course."
Jumping in the large, open space in the International Arena, Antares F covered the ground with ease and then left out a stride in the last line to take the lead. Ward spoke further about the horse, stating, "He has an incredibly big stride, but he is also very fast across the ground. He is an aggressive horse, so you don't really have to make him go fast. You just have to soften the reins and he moves across the ground, so it makes him quite quick, especially in big spaces."
One of the world's best riders, Ward has many exceptional horses in his barn, and spoke about the difference between his three tops mounts, Antares F, Rothchild, and Sapphire. "They are really all different. This horse, stride-wise, is similar to Sapphire but he has tons more blood. He is an incredible jumper and he is a little bit of a handful, but in a good way. Rothchild is what he is; he is quirky and a little bit of a character, but he is in good form and he kind of quietly keeps jumping clear round after clear round," Ward observed. "One thing about Sapphire is that you always know what you are going to get. The other two aren't quite to the consistency level that she is at yet, but I hope that eventually they will be."