The sixth week of the 2019 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) kicked off on Wednesday, February 13, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL. Riding to the top spot of the $36,000 Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1.45m was Samuel Parot (CHI) and his own Atlantis.

Week 6, which features World Champion Hunter Rider competition in the International Arena at WEF, has international jumper classes at Equestrian Village, home of the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival. Feature classes of the week include the $134,000 CabanaCoast Grand Prix CSI 3* on Friday, February 15, at 7 p.m. in the Global International Arena at Equestrian Village and the $100,000 USHJA/WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular as part of the “Saturday Night Lights” series, on Saturday, February 16, at 6:30 p.m. in the main International Arena at PBIEC.

There were 41 entries in the $36,000 Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1.45m, which was held in a modified power and speed format, where all riders continue on to the second speed phase of the course. This week’s course designer for FEI jumper classes is Ana Catalina “Catsy” Cruz Harris (MEX).

Parot went first in the class on Thriller P, and he was able to find the path to victory with his second mount in the class, Atlantis (Andiamo x Dodana W). They sped around the second phase of the course in just 19.84 seconds, the only combination to break the 20-second barrier.

Second place not far behind in 20.23 seconds was Santiago Lambre (MEX) riding his own Charatinus (Chacco-Blue x Uganda). Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Vlock Show Stables LLC’s Billy Dorito (Billy Mexico x Billy Furisto) finished third in 20.29 seconds.

This was the first show back for Atlantis since an infection kept him out of commission following the three-star show in Tryon, NC, in October 2019. Parot brought him back slowly with a long break. “Now he’s feeling better, and I’m so happy to have him back,” said Parot. “He feels normal now.”

In addition to coming back to the show ring, Parot also has to be choosy for the 16-year-old’s schedule. The pair has had 31 top-three finishes in FEI competition since Parot started showing him in June 2015. “I have to be careful with him,” he noted. After this week, Atlantis will show during the CSIO4* week 8 and the five-star in week 12.

Speaking of Wednesday’s competition, Parot said, “It was fast! It’s very difficult to win in Wellington. There are a lot of top horses and riders. I went faster for the last few jumps. I did six strides in two lines where other people did seven. I think that’s what made the difference.”