The energy was high in the International Ring at Wellington International on Thursday morning as a slew of the top riders in the world suited up to contest the precursor event to Saturday evening’s CSI5* grand prix during ‘Saturday Night Lights’. A starting field of 54 combinations were set to contest Frank Rothenburger’s (GER) first phase of the CHF75,000 CSI5* Adequan® WEF Challenge Cup Round 5, which featured an efficient time-allowed of 74 seconds. As we’ve seen him do before, Irish Olympian Bertram Allen saved the best for last and made quick work of the short course to take the lead in a blazing 38.89 seconds aboard Pacino Amiro.
The time allowed in the opening round was a heartbreaking factor for six pairs that suffered only a single time-fault. Sixteen advanced to the jump-off, and after two chose to save their horses for another day, 12 riders from eight nations went head-to-head over the short course. The lead changed hands several times, but Allen made the most of his final position and shifted Aiden McGrory’s Pacino Amiro into a new gear.
“I knew going in that I had to have a good round, but I didn’t want to overdo it today with the grand prix coming up on Saturday night,” Allen detailed. “My plan was to be quick early on because I knew if I caught the first two fences good that my horse is as quick as any other.”