Lucy Deslauriers (USA) and Hester, owned by Lisa Deslauriers, were in fine form on Thursday, February 11, as they flew to the top of the leaderboard in the International Arena for a victory in the $73,000 Adequan® WEF Challenge Cup Round 5 CSI5* at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF).
Held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC), competition is underway in the first CSI5* of the season at the 2021 WEF, sponsored by Douglas Elliman Real Estate with a concurrent CSI2* running as well, sponsored by Restylane. Competition continues on Friday with the $37,000 Bainbridge 1.45m Classic along with the $37,000 Restylane 1.45m Qualifier CSI2*. And, always a crowd favorite, Saturday night features jumping under the lights with the $401,000 Douglas Elliman Real Estate Grand Prix CSI5* in the International Arena. The wraps up with an exciting Sunday lineup with the $73,000 CaptiveOne Advisors 1.50m Classic and the $50,000 Restylane 1.45m Grand Prix CSI2*. Spectators can watch feature classes live and on demand using the livestream.
Over a track set by Kelvin Bywater (GBR), 18 combinations from a starting field of 56 qualified to return for the jump-off, with 15 electing to challenge the second round. Deslauriers and her partner of eight years answered all the questions to fly into first with a time of 31.97 seconds.