Venezuela's Luis Fernando Larrazabel Logs Wellington Victory on Ribery

Taking time to develop the nine-year-old Ribery paid off for Venezuela's Luis Fernando Larrazabel with victory in Wellington's Premiere Challenge Cup Thursday.

Luis and the Canadian-owned gray mare topped the lineup of 10 rider and horse combinations the first of 13 weeks of the Winter Equestrian Festival.

The Wellington-based rider and Ribery were double clear in a jump off time of 39.83 secs.

Tony Stormanns of Germany on the 11-year-old stallion Cassius Clay was runner up, also double clear, in a jump off time of 40.758.

Heather Caristo-Williams of USA on Contino Quick MVF completed their clear jump off in 40.9.

"I'll take it all day," Luis quipped on being congratulated on the win on the horse that was second in the seven-year-old finals.

"Last year, we really took our time to bring her up to the level," he said. "And now we're just pushing a little bit to see how we're doing. So I mean, it was a good start for the season. So let's keep working on it, and hopefully, we can keep having good results."

Last summer, he competed Ribery on Wellington's grass derby field as a step in the horse's development.

"I took my time," Luis said. "I did some national Grand Prix here in the grass field. And then, you know, I went a little up north to keep jumping. And by the end of the year, she was jumping two -star.

"And she was just jumping very good, making silly mistakes as I knew she would taking it to a new level. But I think she learned a lot from those experiences because today she was right on."

Results:

$35,000 WEF Premiere Challenge Cup

Place Horse/Rider NationJump Off Fault Time

1 RIBERY/LUIS FERNANDO LARRAZABAL VEN 0 39.83

2 CASSIUS CLAY/TONY STORMANNS GER 0 40.758

3 CONTINO-QUICK MVF/HEATHER CARISTO-WILLIAMS USA 000 40.9

4 FACUNDO DE LA NUTRIA/CELSO LUIS CAMARGO ARIANI BRA 0 41.736

5 MISTER JONES/EMILY ROUTLEDGE GBR 0 42.268

6 OMBRE D'EMMA/DANA ESCALES USA 4 41.835

7 HAPPY TIME/LILLIE KEENAN USA 4 42.014

8 QUINCI QUALITY/J.J. TORAN USA O 4 42.759

9 ME THE REBEL R.T./MAX ROUTLEDGE GBR 4 43.95

10 CYRAMO Z/JACQUELINE RUYLE USA 4 44.221

Photo: Luis Fernando Larrazaba of Colombia on Ribery winning the first of 13 weeks of Winter Equestrian Festival Challenge Cup. © 2026 Ken Braddick/Jumper-News.US