January 10, 2024, Myakka City, Florida. The second week of the Sarasota Winter Classic kicked off today at the stunning TerraNova Equestrian Center with the $10,000 1.40m Welcome Stake. Held during the first two weeks of January, the show features elite hunter, jumper and equitation competition that includes a weekly welcome stake, grand prix, national hunter derby and various junior/amateur and child/adult classics in both the hunter and jumper rings. The series is currently celebrating its fifth anniversary as it delivers a boutique horse show experience. The $10,000 1.40m Welcome Stake was Wednesday’s premier event, and Shannon Hicks (USA) and Al Pachini displayed incredible form to capture the win.
Mauricio Garcia Ballesteros (PUR), an FEI Level III course designer, put forth a track worthy of its 16 horse-and-rider combinations, which featured top USA athletes including David Jennings, Morgan Ashby, Allen Nabors and, last week’s Welcome Stake winner, Marylisa Leffler. While the course challenged its entries in several areas, the tight time allowed posed the biggest risk for the riders. Two pairs were fault free over fences but accrued a single penalty from the clock, and several duos garnered an unfortunate rail in their effort to race home.
As the second combination on the course, Marylisa Leffler (USA) and Rolling Acres LLC’s 14-year-old Warmblood mare, ZaZa Z (Zandor Z x Cocaine Z), once again laid down the gauntlet by producing the first double-clear effort in the immediate jump off. Hicks was toward the end of the starting order with her second mount, Helen Gilbert’s 15-year-old Warmblood gelding, Al Pachini (Cheers Cassini x Lirbine), and they shot straight to the top of the leaderboard, clocking in at a blazing 36.105 seconds across the short track.
“I really loved today’s courses, and I loved the tight time allowed because my horses are fast,” Hicks said. “Obviously doing five strides in the six-stride line is probably what sealed the deal on our win today, but he is always pretty fast, too.”
Hicks shared that the win is a testament to the long-standing partnership she has built with the gelding and to her fitness program for him.
“He [Al Pachini] does a lot of flat work and only jumps classes I think he can win,” she said. “I have had him since he was a five year old, and I’m the only one who has ever shown him. He is like my best friend.”
As the penultimate rider on course, with his final of four entries, professional David Jennings (USA) made his final bid for the winners’ podium aboard The Presley Partners’ 11-year-old Italian Sport Horse, Presley Degli Assi (Presley x Ulzhane St Winoc). Jennings’ effort was enough to overtake Leffler’s time of 36.984 seconds with a time of 36.158 seconds to finish the afternoon’s class in second place. Leffler and ZaZa Z rounded out the top three.
USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Classes
In TerraNova Equestrian Center’s Magnolia Ring, green hunter and green conformation horses took center stage at various heights. Throughout the division classes, the day also featured a $1,000 USHJA Green Hunter Incentive for the 3’6”/3’9” division, as well as for the 3’0”/3’3” competitors. With a winning score of 86, professional hunter rider Jennifer Alfano (Ocala, Florida) took the top call in the 3’6”/3’9” height group aboard Sharon O’Niell and Kathy Chiaf’s 8-year-old KWPN gelding, Gunmetal (Dallas VDL x Coniek).
Ashley Worthington (Brookeville, Maryland) and Jennifer Melhako’s 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Lestienne GPH (Bisquet Balou C x Emmasinaa-A), earned a leading score of 85 to carry the title in the $1,000 USHJA Green Hunter Incentive 3’0″/3’3″.
“When we bought him [Lestienne], he was a jumper but looking at him now you would never know,” Worthington said. “He is the kindest and most level-headed horse; you can always count on him. I’m grateful his owner has trusted me with him and that we have been able to bring him along from the baby greens all the way up into the Green Hunter 3’3” division.”
The Sarasota Winter Classic Week II includes the $35,000 Grand Prix of Sarasota, the $5,000 The Estates at TerraNova USHJA National Hunter Derby, presented by Laughlin Tanner Group at Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, and junior/amateur and child/adult classics in both the hunter and jumper rings.