Wellington, Fla. – April 1, 2021 – A competitive and decorated group of 63 horse-and-rider combinations took to the International Ring Thursday afternoon during the twelfth and final week of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The grand finale of the 2021 WEF Challenge Cup series, the $50,000 Adequan WEF Challenge Cup CSI4*, saw just seven athletes back for the jump-off, including Nayel Nassar (EGY), Lorcan Gallagher (IRL), Maira Costa (USA), Lillie Keenan (USA), Daniel Deusser (GER), Brian Moggre (USA) and Daniel Bluman (ISR). A quick jump-off with several long approaches to singles, combinations, and lines produced four double-clear efforts, but in the end, Brian Moggre held the fastest time in the jump-off to emerge victorious aboard his longtime partner MTM Vivre Le Reve.
Veteran course designer Olaf Peterson Jr. (GER) presented athletes with a long 15-effort first-round track that included one and two stride combinations, several technical lines, and a long approach to the final oxer that proved to be challenging for many riders. Many of the horses found the extensive track to be tiring, which held true after the last oxer proved to be a challenging obstacle for many. With rails falling in multiple places on course, only seven of the eight riders to produce a clear round elected to come back for the jump-off round.
First, in the ring for the 7-obstacle jump-off was Egypt’s Nassar aboard Evergate Stables LLC’s Lucifer V. Nasser and the 15-year-old Westphalian gelding set the pace for the jump-off with a clear round in a time of 40.32 seconds. While those that followed attempted to unseat Nassar, he held the lead for five rounds of the jump-off to follow. As the penultimate pair, United States athlete Moggre gave Nasser a run for his money, shaving three-tenths of a second off his leading time to take the first place spot in a quick time of 40.04 seconds.
Moggre was triumphant aboard Major Wager LLC’s12-year-old Westphalian gelding, a long-time partner of his. The gelding has taken him from the junior jumper divisions up to the FEI grand prix level, as well as making both of their debuts representing the United States in nations cup competition. The pair has been together since Moggre was just 15 years old, and now at 21 years old, Moggre is known for his quick speed and tidiness aboard MTM Vivre Le Reve in the jump-off.
Ultimately claiming second place was Nasser and Lucifer V. Rounding out the top three was German rider Daniel Deusser aboard the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Casallvano, owned by Camilla Hamann and Philipp Widmayer. After coming off a significant win in last week’s $500,000 RolexGrand Prix CSI5* Deusser took the jump-off in Thursday’s WEF Challenge Cup Series Final with grace and speed to finish double clear with a time of 40.56 seconds.
Competition at WEF will resume Friday in the International Ring with the $2,500 Amateur Owner 1.40m Jumper class, and the day will conclude with the highly anticipated $73,000 FEI CSI4* CaptiveOne Advisors 1.50m Series Final.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Brian Moggre – $50,000 Adequan WEF Challenge Cup CSI4* winner
On MTM Vivre Le Reve:
“Erkle, [MTM Vivre Le Reve], is amazing. He is kind of my rock after all of these years. He was all of my firsts – jumping my first FEI classes, grand prix classes, CSI2*, CSI3*, and CSI4*. He is a horse that I have an extraordinary relationship with, so it is really nice to see that we still got it.”
On his preparation for the class:
“I know [MTM Vivre Le Reve] like the back of my hand, and I trust him a lot. So I know what risks I can take and which ones to avoid. The best part of our relationship is that we know the ins and outs of each other. You can say you know so much about a horse but it’s nice to know that he knows me just as well.”
On his plan for the class:
“For the first round I just wanted to jump a nice clean round and qualify for the grand prix, and then go from there. The jump-off was nothing too crazy, just keep the wheels on the cart for the grand prix because we knew that we were qualified. I knew that with seven in the jump-off, we could put a little pressure on it and see what came of it. I asked him to step up to the plate, and he did, and it worked out for us. And I still feel like I have a good horse for the grand prix on Saturday.”
On the jump-off:
“For the jump-off, I did one less stride in the first line and the last line. [MTM Vivre Le Reve] has a huge stride, and they carry across this footing nicely and travel the ground well. He got up those seven strides just as if he was doing the eight; he has such a big stride.”
On his plan this weekend:
“[MTM Vivre Le Reve] will just do the $214,000 Welling Agricultural Services Grand Prix CSI4*] this Saturday, and he is the only one I am showing this week.”
On his plans moving forward:
“For the summer, it is tough to make a plan. It would be great to go to Europe if we can, but luckily there are options everywhere, wherever we end up. It would be great to jump on some teams this summer and the two top horses I have right now, [MTM Vivre Le Reve] and [Balou du Reventon] give me a lot of options which I am very fortunate to have. So we are just planning it by ear right now.”
RESULTS
$50,000 Adequan WEF Challenge Cup CSI4*
Place / Horse / Rider / Owner / Country / R1 Time | R1 Faults / R2 Time | R2 Faults
1. MTM Vivre Le Reve / Brian Moggre / Major Wager LLC / USA / 76.20 | 0 / 40.04 | 0
2. Lucifer V / Nayel Nassar / Evergate Stables LLC / EGY / 76.98 | 0 / 40.32 | 0
3. Casallvano / Daniel Deusser / GER / Camilla Hamann and Philipp Widmayer /78.30 | 0 / 40.56 | 0
4. Agana van Het Gerendal Z / Lillie Keenan / Chansonette Farm LLC / USA / 77.21 | 0 / 41.99 | 0
5. VDL Cartello / Lorcan Gallagher / Heathman Farm LLC / IRL / 77.62 | 0 / 38.15 | 4
6. Ubiluc / Daniel Bluman / Blue Star Investments / ISR / 78.60 | 0 / 42.71 | 4
7. Presence / Maria Costa / Ravello Farms LLC / USA / 78.70 | 0 / 40.32 | 8
8. Gazelle / Kent Farrington / Robin Cleary Parsky USA / 77.46 | 0 / WD
9. Northern Light / Tiffany Foster / Artisan Farms, LLC / CAN / 79.11 | 1
10. Confu / Laura Kraut / St. Bride’s Farm / USA / 79.21 | 1
11. Levis de Muze / Ioli Mytilineou / Elia Construction SA / GRE / 79.79 | 1
12. Celine / Karen Polle / Karen Polle / JPN / 79.91 | 1