Wellington, Florida – January 30, 2020 –  Competitors took to the Grass Arena for the first time at the 2020 Palm Beach Masters Series, and the first CSI 4*-W competition was the $10,000 Palm Beach Masters Warm-up. Nicole Shahinian-Simpson (USA) and Akuna Mattata emerged victorious after 51 combinations took on Alan Wade‘s (IRL) course for the 1.40m two phases special competition.

The American and the 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Quinar x Landwind II) winning second-phase time was 30.23 seconds after clearing all the obstacles on both sections of the course and having no penalties attributed to them.

The next two highest-placed combinations also registered a clean scorecard with Jordan Coyle (IRL) and Des le Debut finishing second with a 30.89-second time, while Amy Millar (CAN) and Ericson were third (31.61 seconds).

“The easy part with her, is that she has one speed, one gear,” Shahinian-Simpson said of her longtime mount. “The course was straightforward, so I just let her go in her gear. I made some angles and turns and dared her at the jumps, and it was sort of my school [for the rest of the week], in a sense.”

Shahinian-Simpson plans to compete “Nala” in Friday’s $72,900 Candy Tribble Qualifier CSI4*-W with an eye toward securing a spot in Sunday’s $213,300 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Wellington.

“She felt great today,” Shahinian-Simpson said. “She felt really game. The footing was super, and the field rode beautifully.”

For full results, please click here.

To view the full CSI4*-W/CSI2* schedule, click here. For live results and orders of go, click here.

Source: Press release from Palm Beach Masters

Photo: © Kathy Russell Photography