Wellington, Fla.—March 5   

Hardin Towell’s had the ride on Lucifer V for two years now, but he’ll admit the horse is a work in progress. “I had him down here last year, and he was a bit of a handful,” Towell said. “He was spooky, and he liked to buck a lot. It took a while; not a lot of people believed in him.”

But Towell did believe in Lucifer V, as did owner Jennifer Gates. “It has been fun for her with Lucifer because he has had his ups and downs, and she has really been behind me when I believed in him so much. Last year there were some questionable moments, so it is nice to have someone with so much patience, and it is nice to have such a great team behind you,” Towell said.

And on March 5, that faith in the 9-year-old gelding paid off with a win in the $127,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 9 at the Winter Equestrian Festival. The highly contested, weekly competition saw a 17-horse jump-off with few clear rounds in the tiebreaker. Towell and Lucifer V were victorious over Ramiro Quintana of Argentina and Whitney and Charlie Jayne aboard Valeska.

“He does it his own way, but I always knew that he tried quite hard and he was very careful,” Towell said of Lucifer V. “It was kind of a learning experience with him here [ast year], and then at Spruce Meadows [last summer] I just jumped 1.30-meter and 1.35-meter. After Calgary we started to step up and do some bigger classes. I did him in the two-star in Los Angeles, and he won two classes there. I did him in his first World Cup qualifier in Las Vegas [in November], and he had the fastest time but one down in the jump-off. He was fifth in that. Then I gave him some time off.”

Ireland’s Alan Wade set the course for round nine of the WEF Challenge Cup Series with 67 competitors on Thursday. He narrowed the field down to 19 clear rounds, but two opted out of the jump-off. Seventeen advanced, and only four were able to clear the short course without fault.

Richie Moloney of Ireland was the first rider to take his time and clear the jump-off course without fault in 43.47 seconds aboard Equinimty LLC’s Slieveanorra, and his clear round eventually paid off for fourth place honors. Quintana and St. Bride’s Farm’s Whitney were next to go clear and finished second in their time of 38.76 seconds. Jayne and Pony Lane Farm’s Valeska followed in a slower time of 40.42 seconds to place third. Towell and Lucifer V were the last pair to clear the short course, and jumped the winning time of 38.21 seconds. First to go in the jump-off, Kent Farrington finished fifth with the fastest round of the day in 38.09 seconds with one rail down on Willow.

Lucifer has shown lightly throughout this year’s  WEF circuit and stepped up to do the $150,000 Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix on March 1, but it didn’t go quite as planned. “It was quite big for his experience. He had 12 faults, but it was just green mistakes,” Towell explained.

For his winning round in the WEF Challenge Cup, Towell trusted his horse’s speed, but was also wary of a rail coming down.

“My issue is that I’m always quick, but I have one down,” Towell admitted. “I did eight strides from Fence 1 to 2. Then I really wanted to get straight for the in-and-out because that was a problem for a lot of people, and I actually got him straight, but I was pretty deep and he gave me a great jump there. Then I know he is good at long gallops. I galloped him to the vertical and the oxer and then the last line he was just great. It makes it a lot of easier with a horse that quick.”

Lucifer V will now have a couple weeks off and show in some smaller classes at the end of the WEF circuit as Towell gears him toward the first leg of the FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas in April.

Final Results: $127,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 9

1. LUCIFER V: 2006 Westphalian gelding by Lord Dezi x Grandeur,
HARDIN TOWELL (USA), Jennifer Gates LLC: 0/0/38.21

2. WHITNEY: 2003 KWPN mare by Indoctro x Concorde,
RAMIRO QUINTANA (ARG), St. Bride’s Farm: 0/0/38.76

3. VALESKA: 2005 Belgian Warmblood mare by Vigo d’Arsouilles x Heartbreaker,
CHARLIE JAYNE (USA), Pony Lane Farm: 0/0/40.42

4. SLIEVEANORRA: 2002 Irish Sport Horse gelding by Voltaire x Flagmount Diamond,
RICHIE MOLONEY (IRL), Equinimity LLC: 0/0/43.47

5. WILLOW: 2003 KWPN gelding by Guidam x Little Rock,
KENT FARRINGTON (USA), Amalaya Investments: 0/4/38.09

6. PLUME DE LA ROQUE: 2003 Selle Francais mare by Kannan (KWPN) x Adelfos,
FREDERIC BUSQUET (FRA), SNC Ellipse & Frederic Busquet: 0/4/38.14

7. OHLALA: 2003 Swedish Warmblood mare by Orlando x Cardento
LAUREN HOUGH (USA), The Ohlala Group: 0/4/40.02

8. CHAQUI Z: 2006 Zangersheide stallion by Chacco Blue x Quinar Z,
SHANE SWEETNAM (IRL), Spy Coast Farm LLC: 0/4/41.37

9. CEDRIC: 1998 Holsteiner gelding by Chambertin x Carolus Z,
LAURA KRAUT (USA), Cherry Knoll Farm, Inc: 0/4/41.38

10. BALOU DU REVENTON: 2006 Oldenburg stallion by Cornet Obolensky x Continue,
LJUBOV KOCHETOVA (RUS), Ljubov Kochetova: 0/4/42.22

11. CARISMA: 1999 Swedish Warmblood mare by Cardento 933 x Maraton 600,
DANIELLE GOLDSTEIN (ISR), Israeli Equestrian Partners: 0/4/42.40

12. PUMPED UP KICKS: 2003 Brandenburg gelding by Levisto x San Juan,
LILLIE KEENAN (USA), Chansonette Farm LLC: 0/8/42.78