Wellington, FL – February 1, 2013 -Week four of the2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) continued on Friday with the junior and amateur-owner riders beginning their jumper competition in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). In the first class of the morning, 16-year-old Wellington resident Spencer Smith jumped to victory in the $1,500 Griffis Residential High Junior Jumper Power and Speed class aboard Skara Glen’s Voltan H.

Week four of the FTI WEF, sponsored by Fidelity Investments®, will continue through February 3. The week will feature the $100,000 Fidelity Investments® CSI 2* Grand Prix on Saturday evening and the $25,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic on Sunday afternoon. The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival features 12 weeks of competition running from January 9-March 31, 2013, and will be awarding almost $7 million in prize money throughout the circuit.

Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela is the course designer in the International Arena for week four. In the Griffis Residential High Junior Jumper Power and Speed, Palacios saw 13 entries compete with ten advancing to the speed phase and five pairs completing both rounds without fault. Last to go in the class, Spencer Smith’s time of 28.305 seconds aboard Skara Glen’s Voltan H would be the best.

Emanuel Andrade and Hollow Creek Farm’s Crossfire 10 finished second with their time of 28.632 in the speed round. Dana Scott and Nod Hill Farm’s KM Whatever RV placed third in 29.062 seconds, and Chloe Reid and King of Hearts were fourth in 29.930 seconds.

Skara Glen’s Voltan H is an eleven-year-old Royal Dutch Warmblood gelding by Pacific x Voltaire, owned by Ashland Farms. Spencer Smith rides out of Ashland and trains with his parents Ken and Emily Smith. He has been showing Voltan H for about one year.

“He’s a really top horse,” Smith said Friday morning. “His ride is a little tricky, but he can jump anything.”

Commenting on the class, Smith described, “I just rode him forward and he really jumped today. The course was a little tricky. The last line was seven (strides), but for the speed round we tried to do it in six and it worked out really easy, so it was good.”

Smith has been showing in the Medium and High Junior Jumpers and hopes to move up to do some bigger classes during the FTI WEF circuit. He has the advantage of living in Wellington and showing at PBIEC throughout the year, so he feels very comfortable showing in the impressive venue.

“This show is awesome. I grew up here and I have been coming here since I was like four,” Smith noted. “I live about a mile away. It is home and to have all of these people come here to compete is awesome. I get in the ring a lot because after the show and before WEF we do a lot of classes here too, so we get to show here a lot.”

Also showing in the International Arena on Friday, Annie Cook and Signe Ostby’s Banba won in the $2,500 RCG Farm High Amateur-Owner Jumper Power and Speed. In the $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m Speed Challenge, Alexander Zetterman and Canora jumped to victory. The $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m jump-off class completed the day with a win for Darragh Kerins and S&L Elite.

Final Results: Griffis Residential High Junior Jumper Power and Speed
1. SKARA GLEN’S VOLTAN H – SPENCER SMITH – ASHLAND FARMS: 0/0/28.305
2. CROSSFIRE 10 – EMANUEL ANDRADE – HOLLOW CREEK FARM: 0/0/28.632
3. KM WHAT EVER RV – DANA SCOTT – NOD HILL FARM: 0/0/29.062
4. KING OF HEARTS – CHLOE REID – CHLOE D REID LLC: 0/0/29.930
5. PROMISED LAND – CHARLOTTE JACOBS – CANDY TRIBBLE: 0/4/27.200
6. WAMINKA – VICTORIA COLVIN – RIVERS EDGE: 0/4/29.008
7. PHINEAS – LUCAS PORTER – SLEEPY P RANCH LLC: 0/4/29.074
8. BARIANO – MADELINE THATCHER – PONY LANE FARM: 0/4/31.735
10. RADIO CITY – LUCAS PORTER – GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES: 0/8/28.590
11. BELLE BLEU S – KAELY TOMEU – SIBONEY RANCH: 4/47.457
12. WILKINA LITHYA – EMANUEL ANDRADE – HOLLOW CREEK FARM: 4/50.343

Original articla from: http://www.phelpssports.com/viewarticle.php?id=10006981