Press release from Equestrian Sport Productions by Summer Grace, Jennifer Wood, and Lindsay Brock for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc. 

Brazil’s Luiz Francisco de Azevedo brought his horse Collin back from the brink of slaughter to lead the victory gallop of the $36,000 Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1.45m Classic CSI4* on the Derby Field at Equestrian Village on Friday, March 22. 

Germany’s Olaf Petersen, Jr. set the single-round speed track for 42 starters with 12 jumping clear, leaving the clock to decide their placings. De Azevedo and Collin, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Colandro x Amethist), broke the timers in 63.90 seconds for the victory. 

“Collin was going to be sent to slaughter because he was so difficult and a friend called me from Belgium telling me I should come try him,” recalled de Azevedo. “I sat on him and he was absolutely crazy and impossible to jump. My friend told me he bought him for nothing and we should try something.

“He convinced me, and we tried together,” continued de Azevedo, who took his time working on Collin’s confidence. “When he arrived at home, we saw a lot of quality, but he was afraid of everything. He is the kind of horse that needs to have confidence in his rider, so I did not try to change him, but tried to do it his way.”

De Azevedo brought Collin (Colandro x Amethist) to his first horse show as a seven-year-old where he jumped clear three days in a row. It was then that he knew the gelding had a lot of potential. 

“Whenever I have a good result like this with him it is something really special,” said de Azevedo, who will also pilot Collin in the $134,000 CaptiveOne Advisors 1.50m Jumper Series Final during “Saturday Night Lights” at WEF 11. “He has a huge stride and is naturally very fast, so I did eight strides to the double today, which no one else did, and I think that is what won it for us.” 

De Azevedo bested Mexican rider Santiago Lambre, who finished on a time of 64.96 seconds for second riding Dingeman (Nintender x Darnels). U.S. rider Hunter Holloway took third with a time of 65.96 seconds aboard VDL Bravo S (Ephepe For Ever x Chellano Z) for owner Hays Investment Corp. Francisco Jose Mesquita Musa took fourth in 66 seconds on Filou Imperio Egipcio (Querlybet Hero x Ahorn Z), owned by Haras Imperio Egipcio/Equivarandas, LDA, while Canada’s Erynn Ballard rode Z Diamanty (Diamant de Semilly x Cor de la Bryere) to round out the top five in 66.23 seconds for owners The Z Group, Javier Salvador Stables, and Diamante Atelier.

Competition returns to the Derby Field at Equestrian Village on Saturday, March 23, with the $209,000 Wellington Agricultural Services Grand Prix CSI4* beginning at 11 a.m.