Amanda Derbyshire Dominates $70,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup Round IV CSI4*

Amanda Derbyshire and Luibyanta BH blaze through the end of the jump-off.

Wellington, Fla. — Feb. 1, 2018 — Great Britain’s Amanda Derbyshire was unstoppable as she rode Luibanta BH (Luidam x Mibanta) to the win in the fourth round of the $70,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup CSI4* out of a starting field of 64 contenders. Held at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) show grounds on the expansive grass derby field for the first time this season, athletes fought hard to produce a clear effort over the Anderson Lima-designed course, but only ten riders advanced to the jump-off.

Amanda Derbyshire

During the tie-breaker, Gochman Sport Horses LLC’s Luibanta BH carefully navigated the track with precision and was clear and fast in the jump-off, flying through the timers in a quick 47.504 seconds that no one could catch. Derbyshire has been riding the 2008 Irish Sport Horse for about one and a half years, and explained that originally the mare was purchased with the intention of riding her for about one year before she would hand over the reins to her students, sisters Sophie and Mimi Gochman.

Derbyshire splits her time riding and training at the Gochman family’s Baxter Hill, which has bases in Wellington in the winter and in the New York and New Jersey areas throughout the rest of the year.

Kevin Babington and Super Chilled took second place.

Just on the heels of Derbyshire was second-place finisher, Kevin Babington (IRL) riding Super Chilled (Gelvin Clover x Ballypatrick Codex), owned by Debra Wycoff. Babington galloped through the timers in a blazing time of 50.85 seconds. Amber Harte (USA) came in third place with Take the High Road, LLC’s Cafino (Cardento 933 x Firona), clocking in at 51.503 seconds over the short course.

Amber Harte with Cafino.

The previous two week’s winner, Eric Lamaze (CAN), also known as “Mr. Challenge Cup,” was unable to replicate his efforts, finishing up with one rail down on Artisan Farms LLC’s Coco Bongo (Caretino x Calizinthe). Last week marked Lamaze’s 25th WEF Challenge Cup victory.

Jumper competition at WEF will resume on Friday morning in the International Arena starting at 8 a.m. with the 1.40m $2,500 High Amateur-Owner Jumpers.

FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE: 

Amanda Derbyshire— $70,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round IV CSI4* winner

On her win:
“The plan was to do seven strides to the last jump and I turned very tight into the double combination before it which made her land a little shallow coming out, but I was still going to try and do seven so I just told her we could do it. She’s a mare so she tries very hard and she got it done.”

On her knack for speed:
“I guess she is fast because she’s so easy to turn and so athletic and adjustable. If you really let her go she’ll come right back to you so it’s always an advantage. I can really open her up and then get her right back for a tight turn too.”

On how she acquired Luibanta BH:
“We went to try a different horse at the yard and I asked if they had anything that was really easy that I could show for them and that maybe could be easy enough for the [Gochman] kids. Then when they brought her out and when we tried her she actually was very simple.”

“I’ve had her a year and a half and she had only done 7-year-old classes up until I got her so we really took it slow with her last year. At the end of summer last year, she really stepped up to do whatever grand prix events we asked of her. She was fourth in the $1,000,000 grand prix and third in the grand prix at the Hampton Classic Horse Show, so we’re going to manage her carefully and hopefully she’ll last a long time.”

RESULTS

$70,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round IV CSI4* Sponsored by Equinimity:
Place / Horse / Rider / Country / Owner / R1 Faults / R2 Faults | Time
1. Luibanta BH / Amanda Derbyshire / GBR / Gochman Sport Horses LLC / 0 / 0 | 47.504
2. Super Chilled / Kevin Babington / IRL / Debra Wycoff / 0 / 0 | 50.85
3. Cafino / Amber Harte / USA / Take the High Road LLC / 0 / 0 | 51.503
4. Chicago Hof Eversem Z / Mattias Tromp / USA / Swede Ventures LLC / 0 / 0 | 51.838
5. HH Gigi’s Girl / McLain Ward / USA / Double H Farm / 0 / 4 | 48.4
6. Emperio Van ‘T Roosakker / Emanuele Camilli / ITA / Alexandra Crown / 0 | 4 / 49.71
7. Fedor / Scott Keach / AUS / Southern Cross Equestrian, LLC / 0 / 4 | 50.479
8. Lumina / Alexandra Paillot / FRA / Paillot Equine Consulting Inc. / 0 / 4 | 52.787
9. Lincourt Gino / Alejandro Karolyi / VEN / Monica Carrera / 0 / 8 | 52.787
10. Grafton / Daniel Coyle / IRL / Ariel Grange / 0 / 12 | 56.537
11. Cerano V/H Dingenshof / Diego Vivero / ECU / Javier Estrada / 1 | 83.27
12. Lillyfee / Susan Horn / CAN / Kingsfield Farm / 1 | 83.99

For full results, please click here.

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