Weekend in Wellington – what not to miss!
Friday Night Stars – FEI World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle – Global Dressage Festival
Tonight is an important night for two US dressage riders looking to secure the one remaining place for this year’s FEI World Cup Final in April in Basel, Switzerland – the final qualifying slot from the North American League. Anna Marek and Kevin Kohmann are both in contention. Kevin set the stage yesterday with a personal best aboard Dünensee of 71.522% in the qualifying Grand Prix.
https://gdf.coth.com/page/friday-night-stars
Saturday Night Lights – $150,000 CSIO 4* Nations Cup – Wellington International
Nine countries compete on Saturday afternoon in the $150,000 CSIO 4* Nations Cup – one of the highlights of the Winter Equestrian Festival. Ireland won last year ahead of Canada and the USA and Cian O’Connor is the only member of the 2024 winning team to return to this year’s contest. He is joined by Daniel Coyle, Michael Duffy and Bertram Allen.
Sunday sees show jumping return to the stunning setting of the Derby field for the $200,000 FEI CSIO 4* Grand Prix with 46 entries including world number one, Henrik Von Eckermann aboard Minute Man. It is a big weekend for USA’s four-time Olympian Laura Kraut as she is inducted into the show jumping Hall of Fame. Sandsablaze, Buddy Brown’s 1976 Montreal Olympic Games mount is also being inducted and the International Award will be given to four-time Canadian Olympian Mario Deslauriers, the youngest rider ever to win the FEI World Cup Final, a title he won at age 18 in 1984.
https://wellingtoninternational.com/visitors/
Sunday Polo – USPA Gold Cup – National Polo Center
The Gauntlet of Polo moves on to the second leg with the USPA Gold Cup – all 11 teams from the opening tournament, the C.V. Whitney Cup returning to compete in this 22-goal tournament. Brookshire, Scott Devon’s Texas team, takes on La Fe Eastern Hay and all eyes will be on prolific goal scorer Camilo “Jeta” Castagnola who has a nine-goal per game scoring average. He and his brother, Bartolome who plays for Globalsport, are returning The Gauntlet of Polo after a hiatus from the rosters, both now Captains of different high-goal teams on the field.
https://www.nationalpolocenter.com/tickets
This could be interesting: