Wilton Porter and Paloubet Top $25,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1

The Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL, hosted its second day of competition for the 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) on Thursday with a win for Wilton Porter (USA) and Sleepy P Ranch LLC's Paloubet in the $25,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1.

Week one of the 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival, sponsored by The Mar-a-Lago Club, runs through Sunday, January 12. The week's highlights include the $75,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes on Saturday, January 11, as well as the $30,000 Mar-a-Lago Club Grand Prix, which will be held on Sunday, January 12. The FTI WEF, held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) features 12 weeks of world-class competition through March 30, 2014, awarding close to $8 million in prize.

Eric Hasbrouck is the course designer in the International Arena at PBIEC for week one competition. In Thursday's $25,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1, Hasbrouck set the course for 46 entries with nine clear rounds to advance to the jump-off. It was then an exciting race against the clock as six of those cleared the short course without fault.

Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and Solerina, owned by Sweet Oak and Spy Coast Farms, set the pace to beat at 37.498 seconds to eventually finish fourth. Ronan McGuigan (IRL) and Capall Zidane were next to go and upped the ante with their time of 37.222 seconds, which earned the third place prize. Paris Sellon and Heracross also cleared the course and earned fifth place honors with their time of 38.870 seconds. Up next, Wilton Porter and Paloubet raced through the course in 36.052 seconds to take the lead. Their time held up to the end as Charlie Jacobs and CMJ Sporthorse LLC's Flaming Star were just off the mark in 36.797 seconds to finish second. Michael Dorman and Wyndmont's Valinski S also jumped a clear round, and finished sixth with their time of 39.968 seconds.

Thursday's win was a big one for 19-year-old Wilton Porter, showing against many of the world's top international riders to earn the third grand prix victory of his young career. Porter is in his freshman year at Vanderbilt University and began his first spring semester this week, coinciding with the first week of FTI WEF competition. He flew into Palm Beach at 1 a.m. Thursday morning, and definitely made the trip worth it with a great start to the season.

In addition to the prize money for Thursday's class, Porter earned a special $3,000 bonus as part of the SSG 'Go Clean for the Green' promotion. Each week of the Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Series, a $3,000 bonus will be awarded to the winning rider if they are wearing SSG 'Digital' Riding Gloves in all rounds of competition with the SSG logo clearly visible. Porter was the first bonus winner of 2014.

Also showing on Thursday, Samantha Senft (USA) kicked off the morning with a win in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m jump-off class with her ride aboard Early Morning. The class saw 27 entries with 17 advancing to the jump-off, and 12 double clear rounds. Senft and Early Morning completed the fastest jump-off round in 36.67 seconds.

Yann Candele (CAN) and Carol Sollak's Brooklyn Blues finished second in 37.038 seconds. Lorenzo de Luca (ITA) and Mike Collin's Cornetiero placed third with a time of 37.905 seconds.

Final Results: $25,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1

1. PALOUBET WILTON PORTER SLEEPY P RANCH LLC: 0/0/36.052
2. FLAMING STAR CHARLES JACOBS CMJ SPORTHORSE LLC: 0/0/36.797
3. CAPALL ZIDANE RONAN MCGUIGAN RONAN MCGUIGAN: 0/0/37.222
4. SOLERINA SHANE SWEETNAM SWEET OAK & SPY COAST FARMS: 0/0/37.498
5. HERACROSS PARIS SELLON PARIS SELLON: 0/0/38.870
6. VALINSKI S MICHAEL DORMAN WYNDMONT: 0/0/39.968
7. WINGS MCLAIN WARD MCLAIN WARD: 0/8/36.763
8. WHAT EVER KAREN POLLE KAREN POLLE: 0/8/37.772
9. AX-CENT KENNETH BERKLEY RIVERS EDGE: 0/8/41.066
10. BOCKMAN'S LAZIO LAUREN HOUGH KARINA ROTENBERG: 1/76.085
11. VDL TORLANDO CALLAN SOLEM TORLANDO GROUP: 1/76.887
12. WILFORD LJUBOV KOCHETOVA LJUBOV KOCHETOA: 1/76.907