Wellington, Florida, USA – February 26, 2020 – Adrienne Sternlicht (USA) won the $5,000 Premier Equestrian Welcome Stake CSIO 4* riding Cadans Z to open week eight of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, Florida, USA, on Wednesday, February 26.

A member of the U.S. Nations Cup team, Sternlicht had the accuracy and speed to top a field of 65 over tracks set by course designer Ken Krome (USA). She and Cadans Z, owned by Starlight Farms 1, LLC, stopped the clock at 62.59 seconds over second-place finisher Todd Minikus (USA) and his own Calvalou in a time of 64.02 seconds. Great Britain’s Ben Maher (GBR) rounded out the podium finishes with Ginger-Blue, owned by Jane Forbes Clark, stopping the clock in 67.78 seconds.

“It’s always nice to start the week off with a win,” said Sternlicht, who piloted the 11-year-old Zangersheide mare (Corosso VDL x Navarone), Cadans Z. “I knew many riders would be using this class to train, so I tried to take advantage of that with this horse. She has a very big stride, so I was able to cover a lot of ground. There were places to really gallop and do leave-outs in the lines, and she performed beautifully.”

Sternlicht was a member of the U.S. Nations Cup team during the 2019 WEF season after helping to guide the U.S. to a gold medal at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Tryon.

Adrienne Sternlicht (USA) & Cadans Z in their winning presentation with Co-Founder and CEO Mark Niehart and Co-Founder and President Heidi Zorn of Premier Equestrian, and ringmaster Steve Rector.

“I haven’t been on a Nations Cup team since this week last year, and I felt like I was the weaker link on that team, so it was definitely a goal of mine to jump on the team this winter,” said Sternlicht. “This week feels like a bit of redemption. I definitely want to put my best foot forward. It’s a horse that I have gained a lot of confidence on in the last few months, and I’m hoping for a great personal and team result this week.”

Riding for the United States, Andrew Ramsay (USA) took fourth aboard Stranger 30, owned by The Stranger Group, with a time of 67.86 seconds, while fellow U.S. rider Abigail McArdle (USA) capped the top five riding I&H Boogy Woogy, owned by Parot Horses LLC, in a final time of 68.59 seconds.

WEF continues at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) through March 29, 2020, with 12 consecutive weeks of world-class competition and $13 million dollars on offer. The eighth week of competition, sponsored by Premier Equestrian, runs through March 1 and is recognized as a Nations Cup CSIO 4* by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI). Highlighting the week are the $37,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup Round 8 on Thursday, the $37,000 Hermès Under 25 Grand Prix Semi-Final on Friday, and the $150,000 Nations Cup CSIO 4* during “Saturday Night Lights”, and the $214,000 Premier Equestrian Grand Prix CSIO 4* to close out the week on Sunday.

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Source: Lindsay Brock for Jennifer Wood Media

Photos: © Sportfot