Wilmington, Ohio – Featured competition at World Equestrian Center – Wilmington resumed Thursday afternoon with the $10,000 Welcome Stake sponsored by the Ohio State University Galbreath Equine Center. Michael Burnett (USA) ultimately secured the first win of Midwest Indoors I with his own Chagrand (Chacco-Blue x Centogrina).
Burnett piloted his longtime partner over Michael Pegg’s (CAN) first round track with ease to be the third pair to move onto the immediate jump-off.
Burnett commented on his heart horse, Chagrand, “All I do at home is keep Charlie’s [Chagrand] fitness good! I jump a few big jumps before the horse show, but he is an older horse now. I have had him for quite a while. He just needs fitness; we don’t do a lot of extra training. He knows what to do, he knows his job. He can jump big jumps and big courses, we just have to keep him fit to be able to do it.”
As the second to last to jump-off, the pair simply needed to be careful and accurate in the short course to take home the first featured win of the series. In a time of 42.064 seconds with a single rail down, the 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding added another win to his impressive record.
“It is close to home for us. I like to bring all of my students here to show, we have a lot of fun! Everything is located very conveniently here. The rings are run great, the footing is great, and the jumps are beautiful, so the horses like to jump well. I can’t say enough good things about it here,” said Burnett.
Richard Rinehart (USA) and Leann Kelly (USA) filled second and third place on the podium, each with two down in the jump-off.
Rinehart returned in typical style to earn the second-place finish aboard the newest mount in the barn, Caesar (Chalet x Glorielle), a 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding, with the quickest time of the day of in 39.863 seconds.
Kelly (USA) piloted Kelsey Ware’s nine-year-old Hanoverian mare Casandra (Cassitano x Hauptstutbuch Quantanmera) to a time of 44.081 seconds to round out the podium.
$10,000 OSU Galbreath Equine Center Welcome Stake Results:
1 Chagrand, Michael Burnett, Michael Burnett | 4 | 42.064
2 Caesar, Richard Rinehart, Abby Ruth | 8 | 39.863
3 Casandra, Leann Kelly, Kelsey Ware | 8 | 44.081
4 Corvet Enigma, Patricio Rodriguez, Patricio Rodriguez | 4 | 71.296
5 Ellickson Laman Van De Zeilhoek, Danielle Urban, Ellickson Equestrian LLC | 4| 71.733
6 Nightshade SCF, Sarah Meier, Sarah Meier | 4 | 72.257
7 Baltino, Daniella Urban, Halsey Hopper | 4 | 75.867
8 VDL Ivar, Kait Meggenhofen, Windara Farms Inc | 8 | 68.161
9 Canterella Van De Hogeborg Z, Lauren Hester, Hester Equestrian LLC | 47 | 103.602
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Results can be found at wec.net.
All horse show images are provided by Winslow Photography and can be purchased onsite at WEC – Wilmington or online through their website.