Press release Equestrian Sport Productions

International competition at the ESP Holiday & Horses CSI4* continued on Friday with the $37,000 Score At The Top 1.45m CSI4* in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). The featured event of the day attracted 24 horse-and-rider combinations to compete for the lion’s share of the prize money, as well as FEI ranking points. Ultimately, the USA’s Brianne Goutal-Marteau and Tanael Des Bonnes proved to be the fastest of the contestants, earning their place in the winner’s circle ahead of Saturday night’s $214,000 Holiday & Horses Grand Prix CSI4*, presented by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.

“I was really excited to jump this class actually,” Goutal-Marteau commented. “The course was really well-suited for my horse. There were a lot of long gallops and long approaches, a couple of tight turns, and he’s really fast naturally, so as long as I can stay out of his way he always does a good job. I thought about changing my plan a couple of times because people started doing different strides between the jumps, but I ended up just going back to what I walked and stayed true to my original plan.”

Course designer Anthony D’Ambrosio (USA) once again set a challenging 1.45m course, which featured 13 jumping efforts in a speed format. Fifteenth to go in the order, Goutal-Marteau and Gerald Ford’s 2007 Selle Français gelding by Watch me van’t Zorgvliet x Don Pierre tripped the timers at 61.77 seconds without any faults, nearly two seconds ahead of the previous frontrunners, Matthew Boddy (GBR) and Cliff Z.

Nine riders followed Goutal-Marteau, but none could catch the leading time. Matthew Boddy and Gotham Enterprizes LLC’s Cliff Z, a 13-year-old Zangersheide gelding by Canturano x Quasimodo Z, held their second-place position with a clear time of 63.59 seconds. Rounding out the podium was Tiffany Foster (CAN) and Artisan Farms, LLC’s Vienna, a 2011 Hanovarian mare by Valentino x Leena J, thanks to a fault-free time of 65.33 seconds.

“We always do Holiday & Horses as our kick-off to WEF. This is always a really busy and fun season for us, and I’m really excited about the improvements that have already been made in a short time to the grounds.  The new footing is amazing and we’ve all noticed a big difference,” Goutal-Marteau concluded.