Pessoa Flies To The Top Of The Green Cove Springs CSI-W

The Brazilian rider outruns Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam in the first World Cup-qualifier of 2009.

Rodrigo Pessoa already has three FEI Show Jumping World Cup titles to his credit, but on Jan. 17, in Green Cove Springs, Fla., he made it clear he’s aiming to add another one.

Pessoa rode Let’s Fly to the top of the $100,000 Green Cove Springs CSI-W, held during the Jacksonville Winter II. His quick time as the last to jump off relegated Irishman Shane Sweetnam to second place on his new mount, Amaretto d’Arco.

Let’s Fly, a 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Double H Farm, is a half-brother to Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s 2008 FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final winner, Shutterfly. They have the same dam, the Hanoverian mare Famm, while Let’s Fly is by Lordanos and Shutterfly is by Silvio.

European-based U.S. show jumper Peter Wylde showed Let’s Fly to consistent grand prix ribbons in early 2008, but Pessoa took over the ride in May when Double H Farm bought the horse.

Only five of the 32 starters went clean over Dave Ballard’s first-round course. “The course was good and difficult,” Pessoa said. “There were a lot of traps to get you—liverpools and a scopey triple combination. But I wasn’t scared at all—not with that horse!”

Michelle Spadone led the way in the jump-off, but Melisimo rolled a rail off the cups over the twisty jump-off course. Kent Farrington and the always speedy Up Chiqui made a mighty bid for the lead, blistering around the course in what would be the fastest time of the night (38.81 seconds). But the back rail of an oxer hit the dirt for 4 faults.

It was Sweetnam’s turn, and he opted to play it smart. “It seemed like the smart thing to do would be to definitely be clear. And then hope for a little bit of luck! If Rodrigo had had one down, that would have been nice. I thought it was more important to be clear than fast,” Sweetnam said.

Sweetnam guided Amaretto d’Arco to the first clear jump-off round in the conservative time of 42.73 seconds. Carolyn Kelly decided to take a shot on Rulanda, and she had a winning time (39.67 seconds) but picked up 8 faults on the way.

Last to go, Pessoa just had to put in an efficient clean round. “He’s a small horse and very handy, so the turns were really good for him. A little bit of gallop is also good for him because he has a big stride when it is needed,” Pessoa said.

As they crossed the finish line clear, the clock stopped at 39.97 seconds, giving them the top check and 20 World Cup points. Pessoa left the next day to show in another World Cup-qualifier in Zurich, Switzerland, on Jan. 25, but he’ll also be showing at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.) this winter.

Sweetnam didn’t regret his careful approach, considering he just started showing Amaretto d’Arco in December. The Lourie family of Spy Coast Farm bought Amaretto d’Arco in August.

“I wasn’t going to take him to indoors because I really didn’t know him,” Sweetnam said.

He showed the 9-year-old bay stallion on Dec. 7, taking seventh in the $60,000 Holiday & Horses Grand Prix CSI-W in Wellington, Fla. “That was our first big class together. It was probably the biggest class he’d done at that point.”