Tomas Yofre Pilots Cardora to Grand Prix Glory at A-T Children’s Project Charity Show to Open ESP Spring Series at Wellington International
Argentina’s Tomas Yofre opened the 2024 ESP Spring Series, presented by Florida Coast Equipment, at Wellington International with a win in the $35,000 Spring 1 A-T Charity Grand Prix, presented by Postage Stamp Farm, riding Cardora, owned by Stellium Sport Horses, in the International Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The ESP Spring Series at Wellington International commenced on a philanthropic note with opening week benefitting the A-T Children’s Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding research towards and supporting children with Ataxia-Telangiectasia, a fatal genetic disease.
Ana Catalina “Catsy” Cruz (MEX) built a challenging track for 42 horses, and welcomed only four back for a tie-breaking jump-off. One of only two double-clear efforts on the day, Yofre and Cardora, a 14-year-old Holsteiner mare (Caretino 2 x Clearway), stopped the clock at 40.558 seconds for the win. He eclipsed Charlotte Babbitt (USA) with time to spare after she crossed the timers in 45.624 seconds aboard her own Vivianne Blue PS to finish second.
“The course was very technical,” said Yofre, 33, of Cruz’s course. “My horse was jumping amazing, so I was lucky to have him performing like that here. She has a huge stride, so I know in the jump-off I can go and find the long strides usually in one or two less.”
Yofre has had the ride on Cardora for three years and piloted the mare up to the five-star level. “She’s my main horse so far and she has done a lot for me; she jumped five-star Nations Cups, but I didn’t do much this winter with her so she is fresh and ready at this level and will be stepping back up during the summer.
“The Spring Series is amazing for people who don’t show that much during WEF,” continued Yofre. “It’s really valuable to keep building the horses up, or introduce new ones to the big ring.”
Pulling two rails in the jump-off, Todd Minikus (USA) was just off the winning time as well in 40.564 seconds to round out the podium on his own Cardozo 4.
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