FEBRUARY 2023 THE RIDER /41


Exclusive to the Digital Edition of The Rider


FEBRUARY 2023 Vol. 4, Issue No. 3


CELEBRATING YEARS


Kate Egan Cruises To Victory In 2023 WEC Premier Equitation Cup Championship Powered By Gary Yeomans Ford


cials, grooms and support staff and of course the spectators, whose presence helped to create a great atmosphere for the Cham- pionship. We are already plan- ning and looking forward to the 2024 WEC Premier Equitation Cup event!” After Murphy revealed his


Kate Egan & Ypaja Kashmir winning the 2023 WEC Premier Equitation Cup Championship powered by Gary Yeomans Ford. Photo courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.


Ocala, FL – The 2023 WEC Pre- mier Equitation Cup Champi- onship powered by Gary Yeomans Ford was the highly an- ticipated event of week VI of the 2023 Winter Spectacular Show Series. Over 100 of the nation’s best junior athletes competed in a traditional three-phase equitation format with jumping tracks built by nine-time Maclay Finals course designer Bobby Murphy of Lexington, Kentucky. Highly decorated junior rider, Kate Egan of Glen Gardner, New Jersey and Redfield Farm’s Ypaja Kashmir (Inshallah De Muze x Lasina) stayed on top during all three phases to leave the class with a brand-new Ford Explorer XLT SUV and the prestigious Premier Cup Champion title. Egan’s trainer Emil Spadone secured the lion share of the $100,000 Trainer Bonus, taking home a check for $40,000. Course architect Bobby


Murphy crafted the intricate tracks for the championship that showcased immaculately deco-


rated fences including the special designed airy ‘WEC Eq’ fence. The first round required precision from athletes with complex bend- ing lines and unrelated distances that tested each rider’s eye. World Equestrian Center –


Ocala’s Director of Operations, Vinnie Card expressed his excite- ment at hosting the Premier Eq- uitation Cup Championship, “This class marks our halfway point through our 2023 Winter Spectacular Show Series. We look forward to the class every year and with over 100 entries in the Finals and over 125 qualified, we are delighted to see how much the class has grown year- after-year. As we move forward, we hope this Championship be- comes a destination for junior riders starting the new show year.”


We would like to express


our gratitude to our sponsor, Gary Yeomans Ford, our ex- hibitors, their trainers and fami- lies, Bobby Murphy our course designer, John Haime, the offi-


Carlee McCutcheon & Chacco Star jumping in stellar form to second place. Photo courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.


technical, but with over 100 ath- letes, we wanted the course to be fair across the board, so we added a few challenging elements. In the second round, we tightened things up. Jimmy Torano wanted to see a blind turn which we made outside with the triple bar, but when things shifted indoors, the combination held that ele- ment. It was incredible to see what the riders did with that turn, and the second round came up fast. The talent out here today showed us that they were up for the challenge,” said Murphy. The judges’ eyes were on


Kate Egan cruising away in her brand-new Ford Explorer XLT SUV with Krissy Chalk, the Regional Marketing Director for Gary Yeomans Ford. Photo courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.


the 102 athletes navigating Mur- phy’s elaborate first round track and even though a large sum gave a stellar performance, the judges had to whittle down the field to 20 to be brought back for flat and second round jumping


phase. During the flat portion of


the championship, the top 20 rid- ers returned without irons to be tested on the flat by the judges. They were asked several ques- tions, but the one that stood out was to hold the counter lead and execute a lead change in front of the judges. Shortly after the flat phase,


the top 20 riders were brought back to the arena for the second jumping round that showcased an even more complex track. From that group, four athletes stood out.


Carlee McCutcheon and


Kennedy McCaulley’s Chacco Star (Chacco-Blue x Carieny Z) were sitting eighteenth after round one, but she wowed the judges during the flat phase and second round to get on the


Premier Equitation Cup Championship powered by Gary Yeomans Ford. Photo courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.


Jordan Gibbs & Cent 15 jumping in the first round of the 2023 WEC


first-round track for the class, rid- ers and their trainers took to the course to walk. Murphy spoke about his designs for today’s championship, “I wanted to bring in a new phase to our Equitation Championship. McLain Ward re- cently challenged me to present equitation riders with a course that would help prepare them for the Olympics. That’s the goal of every talented young athlete, so we really worked on the outdoor course to present that Olympic feel and did our best to translate that concept into our indoor tracks.” “The first round track was


Kate Egan standing atop the podium after winning the 2023 WEC Premier Equitation Cup Championship powered by Gary Yeomans Ford presented by Krissy Chalk, the Regional Marketing Director for Gary Yeomans Ford. Photo courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.


judge’s radar and move up the ranks.


Jordan Gibbs caught the at-


tention of the judges during the flat and second round aboard Mountain King Ranch LLC’s Cent 15 (Carenzo x Sarafina). Gibbs and Cent 15 found a seam- less track during the second round, to move up through the pack and ultimately secure a spot in the testing round. Kate Egan returned for the


second round aboard Ypaja Kash- mir toward the end of the order. Egan was sitting third after the first round and stood out once again during the flat phase. Egan and Ypaja Kashmir found a foot perfect track in the second round to climb her way to the top. Ellie Aronson and Wolfs-


tone Stables & Sales Inc.’s Con- thacco (Conthargos x Sacudira)


were coming back to the flat and second round sitting on top. Aronson and Conthacoo contin- ued to impress the judges with a stellar second round course that confirmed their spot in the top four.


After the second round, the


judges asked their top four riders: Ellie Aronson, Carlee Mc- Cutcheon, Jordan Gibbs and Kate Egan to return for one final test; that asked riders to walk out of line, canter directly to the triple bar, halt, canter fence two, counter canter fence five, canter fence six, counter canter fence seven, halt, and return to your place in line at a walk with a loose rein. While Aronson, Gibbs and


McCutcheon all performed solid Continued on Page 42.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48