David Beisel and Angelo Take the Blue in the $1,500 Welcome Stake 1.35m

Angelo and David Beisel, joined by daughter Izzy Beisel, pose with their blue ribbon after a win in the $1,500 Welcome Stake 1.35m.

WEC Fall II kicked off this afternoon with eighteen entries vying for the win in the $1,500 Welcome Stake 1.35m sponsored by CWD Sellier. Eight entries advanced to the jump off and three managed double clear rounds, making the fight for first a true battle against the clock. Though competition was tight, it was David Beisel and Maarten Huygens’ Angelo (Conthargos x Grand Ronja) that took first place.

The course for this afternoon’s Welcome Stake was designed by Bobby Murphy of Lexington, Kentucky and featured fourteen efforts including two one-stride combinations, several bending lines and a few rollback turns. The jump off allowed for several inside turns, as well as two tighter inside turns that only two riders attempted.

Brian Shook and Cymo set the pace in the Welcome Stake.

First to jump double clear was Brian Shook and F.A.S Farms, LLC’s Cymo (Cormint x Kyma). Shook and the eleven year old Warmblood gelding were on fire at WEC last week, taking fourth place in both the $1,500 Welcome Stake 1.35m and the $10,000 WEC Grand Prix. This afternoon, the pair were determined to repeat last week’s successes, jumping a clear first round in 75.867 seconds, well under the time allowed of 82 seconds. Shook and the bay gelding continued to the jump off of the Table II 2b class, blazing through the course and jumping a second clear round in 40.871, setting a tough time to beat.

Shook and Cymo held the lead in the $1,500 Welcome Stake 1.35m sponsored by CWD Sellier until the end of the class when David Beisel and Maarten Huygens’ Angelo (Conthargos x Grand Ronja) entered the ring. The pair have earned several wins at WEC, most recently in the $7,499 Futures Prix 1.30m in July. Recently, Beisel’s daughter Izzy Beisel has been showing the eight year old Mecklenburg gelding in the Children’s Jumpers and has taken home several blue ribbons. This afternoon Beisel and Angelo took to the first round with their usual impressive style, keeping a quick pace and easily clearing each fence in a time of 74.033 seconds. The pair continued straight to the jump off, keeping their speed. Beisel managed an impressively tight turn after fence four to roll back to fence seven and after fence nine to roll back to the twelve a-b combination. Beisel and Angelo flew through the timers at 38.296 seconds, jumping straight to first place and moving Shook and Cymo to second place.

Christi Israel and Cracky Z jump into third place.

Christi Israel of Birmingham, Alabama and her own Cracky Z (Caretano Z x Raissa Z) also had a noteworthy round in this afternoon’s Welcome Stake. The pair spent the Summer showing at Fox Lea Farm in Venice, Florida taking top placings in various 1.35m classes. This afternoon, Israel and the twenty year old Zangersheide stallion were consistently quick, jumping a clear first round in 76.727 seconds and continuing straight to the jump off to jump a second clear round in 43.245 seconds, which set them comfortably in third place.

Beisel took a minute to chat with us ringside about his ride, “I haven’t been riding Angelo very much because my daughter’s been practicing with him. He’s owned by Maarten Huygens and he’s for sale. I love him and I’ve had good success with the horse so I thought, maybe if people saw what a kid could do with him it might help showcase him. I haven’t jumped a big track on him since the WEC show in July. We’ve been working him, but mainly I’ve just been trying to help my daughter get to know him better. Izzy has been doing the Children’s Jumpers with him and she’s won a couple of classes with him, too, so he’s a winner. He likes winning. He was excited to be jumping with me again. I had already gotten to do Essince W in the jump off, so I knew you had to be quick to beat Brian. He was very fast in the jump off with a great time. This little horse can turn and go.”

When asked about sixth place finisher Essince W, Beisel replied, “My horse Essince W was fantastic, even with the rail he had. I’ve never challenged him that much to a combination, so hopefully, next time I come around the corner and say hey, we’re going to keep rolling. I think he just made a mistake in a green fashion; he’s learning.”

When asked about his mount Bipper Du Libaire, Beisel replied, “The last horse I did was an eight year old that I just started riding for Laura Stern. He’s lovely, he was just a little green to the one jump he had down. But, he sure jumped it easy.”

Beisel added, “I think I’ll do all three of them again on Saturday.”

$1,500 Welcome Stake 1.35m Results