Mexico’s Jaime Guerra Races to Palm Beach Post Welcome Stake Victory at the 122nd National Horse Show and Family Festival

Wellington, Florida – November 30, 2005 – The 122nd National Horse Show and Family Festival kicked off under partly cloudy skies on Wednesday at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Florida. A torrential all day rain on Tuesday did not dampen the spirits on Wednesday, but it did force the closure of the Internationale Arena for competition on opening day. The $5,000 Palm Peach Post Welcome Stake was diverted to the all-weather DeNemethy Arena, but started as scheduled at 3pm.

Thirty-one starters went to the post for the Palm Beach Post Welcome Stake, a class that was scored under FEI Art. 238.2.1, Time First Round. The jumper courses for the National Horse Show are being designed by Jose “Pepe” Gamarra of La Paz, Bolivia.

Six horse and rider combinations produced fault free performances over the one round speed course while thirteen others picked up four faults.

Pablos Barrios and Sun God, owned by the Split Creek Farm, produced the first clear round and set the pace early, clocking in at 64.50 seconds with no faults.

That lead was short lived however, as just two horses later the eventual winner, Jaime Guerra and RMW Lorenz, shot to the top of the leader board with a clean go in 63.75 seconds, shaving .75 seconds off the time posted by Barrios. RMW Lorenz is owned by the Rocky Mountain Warmbloods of Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Candice King aboard Perfekt, owned by the Perfekt Group, put in a great effort, but their finish time of 65.54 seconds would only hold up for a third place finish. Eric Flameng and Mazelle, owned by Floriac, LLC, finished fourth in 67.77 seconds, while 2004 Olympic Team Gold and Individual Silver Medalist Chirs Kappler and M &K Oranta, LLC’s VDL Oranta finished fifth in 69.08 seconds. Mary Lisa Leffler and Gerona 92 from the Rolling Acres Stables rounded out the clean rounds in sixth place, with a finish time of 71.18 seconds.

McLain Ward and his Larioso had the fastest time of the day, but picked up an unlucky rail coming home. Ward tripped the timers in an blazing 59.41 seconds, but with four faults.

RMW Lorenz is a brand new ride for Guerra, a two time Olympian for his home country of Mexico. In fact, today was their first class together. Asked how they came together so quickly as a team, Guerra said, “It’s hard to explain how that happens, because I really only had a couple of days to get to know the horse and never had him in the show ring. Some horses it takes days and weeks to get to know. This horse though, is experienced and is pretty cool in the head,” he laughed. “He always wants to go to the jumps so that really helps a lot.”

Guerra was not sure his early round would hold up through the balance of the class. “I thought anybody could have been faster than me, really,” he said. “I think it was a difficult course for speed. Not so hard, but very technical for a speed class. I didn’t go that fast, plus I don’t think many others tried too hard to go fast.” But Guerra pointed out that had someone beaten him, he had two more standing by. “I knew I had two more chances, with three horses in the class. I knew if someone beat me on Lorenz, then I had two more shots at it after that.”

Did the change from the grass of the Internationale Arena to the all weather surface at the DeNemethy affect his strategy? “I showed here at the Winter Equestrian Festival at the beginning of the year, so I knew the difference between the two rings for sure,” Guerra explained. “Some horses are better on grass, some on sand, and some just don’t really care what surface they jump on. But with Lorenz, being the first time I showed him, I really didn’t know what to expect, so I was very happy with his performance.”

Thursday starts with Round One of the Young Jumper Championships at 10am in the DeNemethy Arena and then the main event, the $15,000 Chesapeake Petroleum National Horse Show Speed Classic, is scheduled at 3pm in the Internationale Arena.

Official Results - $5,000 Palm Beach Post Welcome Stake – FEI Art. 238.2.1 – Time First Round – Wednesday, November 30, 2005 – DeNemethy Arena

• 1 – RMW Lorenz, Jaime Guerra – 0/63.75
• 2 – Sun God, Pablo Barrios – 0/64.50
• 3 – Perfekt, Candice King – 0/65.54
• 4 – Mazelle, Eric Flameng – 0/67.77
• 5 – VDL Oranta, Chris Kappler – 0/6.08
• 6 – Gerona 92, Mary Lisa Leffler – 0/71.18
• 7 – Larioso, McLain Ward – 4/59.41
• 8 – RMW Madelaine, Jaime Guerra – 4/61.15
• 9 – Intrepide Du Valon, Alison Firestone – 5/63.43
• 10 – Game Boy, Todd Minikus – 4/63.46
• 11- Hidden Creek’s Wapino, Margie Engle – 4/66.22
• 12- Costa Sur, David Jennings – 4/66.48

PHOTO CREDIT: Intrepide Du Valon and Alison Firestone in the Palm Beach Post Welcome Stake. Photo by Kenneth Kraus