Welllington, Florida, USA – March 02, 2019 – Team USA won the $150,000 Nations Cup CSIO 4* yesterday during the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida.

Adrienne Sternlicht (USA) & Toulago 

Team USA consisted of veterans McLain Ward (USA), Beezie Madden (USA) teamed up with two young stars of the sport, Wilton Porter (USA) and Adrienne Sternlicht (USA), all led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland.

Besides being one of the most exciting classes during the twelve-week-long circuit, the eighteenth edition also served as the tiebreaker between Canada and the USA, both countries holding six wins each. The time allowed of 77 seconds was not a major issue.

Team Mexico led the way for the 9 teams participating in the competition with Manuel Gonzalez Dufrane (MEX) and Hortensia van de Leeuwerk (Corland x Danora vd Leeuwerk) getting thigs started over the course designed by Steve Stephens (USA). The young Mexican did not have the same fate as his previous outing for “Las Aquilas, registering 9 penalty-points, one of them due to a time-penalty.

The first round saw the USA, Canada and Ireland going neck-to-neck for the lead, being joined by Israel, Mexico and Colombia among the six nations that had qualified for round 2.

Wilton Porter (USA) & Caletto Cabana

Wilton Porter (USA) was one of the stars of the night, securing a decisive double clear aboard Caletto Cabana (Cassini I x Mercury) that proved to be vital for the eventual victory. Nicole Walker (CAN) and Falco van Spieveld (Toulon x Melissa) gave the crowd the best performances of the night, making their ride look as easy and smooth as possible.

Canada was out of the picture when Mario Deslauriers (CAN) and Amsterdam (Catoki x Soraya VI) had two penalties attributed to them.

Daniel Coyle (IRL) and Farona (Baltic VDL x Narona) and Lorcan Gallagher (IRL) and Hunters Conlypso II (Contendro x Cous-Cous) carried Ireland to the jump-off against the eventual winners.

Beezie Madden (USA) and Chic d’Hyrencourt

The USA counted on a clear by their last duo, Beezie Madden (USA) and Chic d’Hyrencourt (Taran de La Pomme x Linotte de Sohan) to give spectators an usual “overtime”.

It was up to McLain Ward (USA) and Contagious to defend the red, white and blue against a very fast combination, Daniel Coyle (IRL) and Farona (Baltic VDL x Narona).

The Irishman got the showdown started, not running away from his characteristic, going fast from the beginning. Unfortunately, the duo had 3 poles down for a total of 12 penalty-points in 41.80 seconds.

McLain Ward (USA) & Contagious

Taking into account the Irishman’s fate, McLain Ward (USA) had practically no pressure, guiding Contagious (Contagio x For Mary) to a clean run in 43.69 seconds that sealed the deal for the host nation.