Maren Foster was a little worried about Walter Welser’s fitness in his first attempt at a CCI* track, but her 7-year-old Hanoverian-Thoroughbred gelding ate up the meters and posted a double-clear cross-country round on Saturday, Nov. 14, to remain in the lead with 40.0 penalties.
“He made the time, which I was really excited about,” said Foster, Geneva, Fla. “The course was a lot longer than anything he’s done, but he was great, and he actually got better as the course went on.”
Foster knew she had to go clean and fast to stay in front of her good friend, Tiffani Loudon-Meetze, who jumped double clean with Lo Fino and remained in second with 44.4.
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“Usually you’re always trying to push for the time, but it was easy [today],” said Loudon-Meetze, Winsboro, S.C. “The first couple minutes I was down on the minute markers, so I kind of put on the gas and ended up being early. It was kind of a long course, so I thought it would have been hard to make the time, but it was pretty straight forward and a fast track.”
Kelli Temple and Sandpiper remained in third after a clean jumping effort, and Lizzie Snow on Pop Star kept their fourth-placed position with a double-clear round.
