Michelle Spadone steps up for second place and starts thinking about Las Vegas too.
Rodrigo Pessoa started 2009 behind the pack in the race to qualify for the Rolex FEI World Cup Final (Nev.).
But now he’s pretty much assured a spot in the final, to be held April 15-19 in Las Vegas. The 20 points he earned by riding Rufus to the top of the $150,000 World Cup qualifier, held on Feb. 7 during the Spycoast Farm WEF 5 in Wellington, Fla., put him firmly in the running.
Pessoa had to take an involuntary vacation from showing after Rufus tested positive for a prohibited substance at the Olympic Games in Hong Kong. The Fédération Equestre Internationale suspended Pessoa from Aug. 29 to Jan. 10, which caused him to miss all of the fall World Cup-qualifying competitions. At the start of 2009, he wasn’t even on the qualifying list.
But Pessoa, who has won the World Cup Final three times, wasn’t about to be left out. On Jan. 17, he rode Let’s Fly to win the $100,000 Green Cove Springs CSI-W (Fla.), then jetted back to Europe to ride Rufus to eighth place in the Zurich CSI-W (Switzerland) on Jan. 25. Those points, added to his Wellington victory, put him fifth in the Western European World Cup League, from which 18 riders qualify.
Rufus, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood (Landaris—Imevina) shipped to Florida after the Zurich CSI. “Since the Olympics, he was just resting at home and not doing very much,” Pessoa said. “In January, I was away, so my friend Alvaro Miranda was training him at home and getting him jumping again.
“In Zurich, he felt a bit rusty. He’s a horse who’s better the more he jumps,” Pessoa noted. “He jumped well in Zurich, but I could tell he wasn’t in top form. When we got to Florida, I felt the difference and he felt so much better. I think he’s totally back in business now. He feels rested and good. It was nice to have all the horses fresh and ready to go here in Florida.”
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Pessoa won the FEI World Cup Final in 1998, ’99 and 2000 on Baloubet du Rouet, who competed in eight Finals. He thinks Rufus might be the horse to help him regain the crown. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and the World Cup. I think the horse is ready to do something special in a championship,” Pessoa said.
Rufus didn’t have to work too hard to win in Wellington. When Pessoa stepped into the ring for the jump-off, there were two clear rounds on the board, but with slower times. “The jump-off really wasn’t that fast,” he said. “He’s not particularly fast, but he has a big stride and you can leave strides out if you want. I just kept my corners really tight and left out a stride in a line and it was enough.”
Pessoa’s round bumped Michelle Spadone down to second, but she was still thrilled with the result. Spadone, 25, has never ridden in a World Cup Final, but now she’s got the Vegas gleam in her eye.
“My plan this year was to get some more experience in bigger classes,” she said. “We weren’t expecting to do so well. I’ll try to qualify, but I don’t expect anything. There are two more qualifiers, and anything can happen.”
Spadone and Melisimo stand 11th in the U.S. East Coast League, from which seven riders qualify. They placed sixth in the $50,000 Hagyard Equine Medical Institute CSI-W (Ky.) in September, then fourth in the $100,000 Green Cove Springs CSI-W in January.
| Did You Know?
Michelle Spadone’s mare Melisimo competes in the grand prix classes against her offspring. She’s the dam of Ben Maher’s gelding Robin Hood W (Animo—Melisimo). Robin Hood, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood, finished third in the $100,000 Budweiser Grand Prix of Syracuse CSI-W (N.Y.), where Melisimo and Spadone placed out of the money. |
Spadone, who trains with her husband, Emil, competes at the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit (Fla.) but decided to pop on over to Wellington for the week just for the World Cup class. The trip almost backfired when she placed 46th in the $30,000 Braman Motorcars WEF Challenge Cup Series Round V—only the top 45 qualified for the World Cup class.
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“I was ready to go home after the WEF class, but everyone told me to stay, so I just waited and waited to see if a spot opened up, and at the last minute it did,” said Michelle.
“But then I had to go first in the big class. It was probably one of the biggest classes I’ve jumped,” she added. “Since I was the first to go, I had a lot of questions. Thank God Emil was there to help me and to calm me down. Jimmy Torano also helped me earlier in the week when Emil was still in Ocala.”
Emil and Michelle found Melisimo, or “Millie,” three years ago. The bay mare, now 15, had spent her youth having foals and competing at the lower levels. “The biggest class she’d ever jumped at that point was 1.30 meters,” said Michelle.
“She didn’t have much experience. I guess Emil saw something special in her, so we bought her and she’s turned out to be a great horse.
“She’s really broke and comfortable and very balanced. She’s one of the nicest horses I’ve ever ridden,” said Michelle. “I don’t think I’ll ever find another horse like her. She has a ton of ability, and I’m so lucky to have her. It’s hard to ride other horses now because she’s so special—she’s spoiled me! Emil has a real special ability to pick out a horse. She’s turned out to be a million times better than I ever hoped.”
Michelle and Millie helped the U.S. team win gold in the Buenos Aires (Argentina) Nations Cup in November, which was Michelle’s team debut. She hopes to travel to Europe on another Nations Cup tour this summer.
