Wilmington, Ohio – World Equestrian Center – Wilmington played host to the $10,000 Welcome Stake of Winter Classic 9 to kick off weekly featured competition. Speed was ultimately the name of the game for Devin Milan (USA) and Garo Kazan’s Conquest (Colestus x Excellenta C), as they rode to the top of the leaderboard.
After a trying first few days back to the show ring, Milan reflected on her uplifting day in the Sanctuary, “Yesterday was a hard day. I was feeling burnt out. After my anxiety was a little high yesterday, I came into today taking it one step at a time. I was trying to stay really relaxed. Sometimes I struggle with trying to focus on the whole course at one time, but today I just jumped everything in pieces and that really helped me.”
Though the nine-year-old Zangersheide gelding can be a bit spooky, Milan was confident about the tricky elements of Anderson Lima’s (BRA) tracks.
“Hot Dog [Conquest] has gotten a lot better at the Liverpool. He doesn’t overjump the jumps, so I have learned to appreciate the Liverpool now because I know that he will give himself a little bit more room. At the last horse show, we struggled with the oxer-vertical one-strides. We worked on that a lot at home. So, I wanted to make sure that he saw those elements and the new pink jump going in.”
The hardworking young professional of Ann Arbor, Michigan, took the lead in a quick 36.767 seconds.
“Today was a good day,” Milan stated as she exited the Sanctuary after a rewarding round and well-deserved blue ribbon.
Wilhelm Genn (GER) and his Quincidence (Charleston K x Quilotte) proved their consistency once again. The 11-year-old Danish Warmblood mare has been better with every step in the ring and jumped to second place in 39.171 seconds.
The Shady Lane Ranch entry, Victory RW Broekkant Z (Vigo D’arsouilles x Evolution), an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, rounded out the top three with Michaella Gerlacher (USA) in the irons. The new face to the barn jumped an easy double clear in 41.077 seconds.
$10,000 Welcome Stake Results:
1 Conquest, Devin Milan, Garo Kazan | 0 | 36.767
2 Quincidence, Wilhelm Genn, Wilhelm Genn | 0 |39.171
3 Victory RW Broekkant Z, Michaella Gerlacher, Shady Lane Ranch | 0 | 41.077
4 Duc De Jentiere, Lani Hutchison, Lani Hutchison | 8 | 39.842
5 HJ Blind Date, Molly Kindness, Molly Kindness | 4 | 64.534
6 Aruba Van’t Eigenlo Z, Michael Janson, Kimberly Janson | 4 | 71.757
7 Kinsella, Charlotte Clark, Charlotte Clark | 8 | 66.998
8 Fortysix & 2, Lyriss Jaegar, Lyriss Jaegar | 8 | 71.759
9 Reykjavik 18, Lauren McGuire, Rachel Kane | 8 | 74.528
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Results can be found at horseshowing.com.
All horse show images are provided by Winslow Photography and can be purchased onsite at WEC – Wilmington or online through their website.