Laura Kraut Opens Week Seven in Wellington with a Win
By Jennifer Ward

WELLINGTON, Fla., Feb. 27 - Laura Kraut of Wellington, Fla., came out on top in Wednesday's $8,000 1.45m competition to open the CSI3* Zada Enterprises Wellington Masters, presented by PowerIce, week seven of the CN Winter Equestrian Festival, presented by Zimmerman Advertising, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.

As the first rider on course, Great Britain's Nick Skelton set the pace by turning in a clear round in a time of 69.82 seconds with the nine-year-old French-bred, Le Prestige St. Lois. Rider after rider attempted to catch Skelton's time over the track designed by Christa Heibach of Germany, but it was the second-to-last rider, Laura Kraut, who finally accomplished the feat. Riding Nocturnal, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare that she has ridden for five years, Kraut turned in the winning time of 68.12 seconds.

"I didn't think Nick was that fast, but then I watched some of the others and they weren't that fast, so I thought if I could leave some strides out, I could make the time without running her off her feet. I'm still being cautious with her," said Kraut, explaining that Nocturnal is just returning from a year's break following an injury.

Kraut will now focus her attention on the United States Show Jumping Team Selection Trials for the 2008 Olympic Games which begin on Thursday, February 28. The $30,000 WEF Challenge Series Round VI, beginning at 7 p.m., acts as the first of five Selection Trials and will be held under lights in the International Arena, mimicking the conditions the horses and athletes will face in Hong Kong. Kraut will be contesting the Trials with two mounts, Anthem and Cedric. A total of 41 horses are entered in the Selection Trials while Beezie Madden's Authentic and McLain Ward's Sapphire have been granted byes.

The CSI3*-W Zada Enterprises Wellington Masters, presented by Power Ice, also includes Sunday's $100,000 Zada Enterprises, LLC Masters Cup, which acts as a World Cup Qualifying event for the 2008 World Cup Final in Goteborg, Sweden. It is also the second U.S. Show Jumping Team Selection Trials for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The 2008 CN Winter Equestrian Festival, presented by Zimmerman Advertising, attracts the best horses and riders from around the world to Wellington, Fla., and offers more than $5 million in prize money. For more information, please visit http://www.equestriansport.com.



Results of Class 1002 - $8,000 1.45m

1 2072 NOCTURNAL LAURA KRAUT 0.00 68.123

PIN OAK FARM

2 7213 LE PRESTIGE ST LOIS NICK SKELTON 0.00 69.824

FREEDOM GROUP

3 3748 SANTANA ALISTER GATHERUM 0.00 70.267

ALL SEASONS FARM

4 1977 COSTA JONATHAN MCCREA 0.00 73.353

CANDY TRIBBLE & WINDSOR S

5 2416 ACCOLADE MICHAEL WALTON 0.00 74.811

PENLYN FARM INC.

6 7948 MURKAS POM D'AMI PETER CHARLES 0.00 77.212

TEAM MURKA LTD. & OLGA WH

7 7950 MURKAS RUBERT R PETER CHARLES 0.00 80.388

TEAM MURKA LTD. & OLGA WH

8 3907 PRIMERA MARILYN LITTLE 4.00 67.810

RAYLYN FARMS

9 478 PALONA LAURA BOWERY 4.00 70.182

JOSEPH DI MENNA

10 3762 SWEET LEONIE LAUREN HAYES 4.00 72.294

HORSES NORTH *

11 2910 ROBIN VAN ROOSENDAEL ERYNN BALLARD 4.00 73.440

LOOKING BACK FARM

12 3761 LIVAROT JAY HAYES 4.00 74.106

* SUMMERHILL FARM

13 1984 TWISTHER CHRISTINE MCCREA 4.00 77.512

CANDY TRIBBLE & WINDSOR S

14 7008 KAIVO DARLENE SANDLIN 4.00 85.678

DARLENE SANDLIN

15 3729 SIGNATURE SIMON NIZRI 8.00 80.230

SIMON NIZR



PHOTO: "Wellington's Laura Kraut and Nocturnal won Wednesday's $8,000 1.45m class to open Week Seven of the CN Winter Equestrian Festival presented by Zimmerman Advertising."

Photo Credit: Ken Braddick, Equestrian Sport Productions



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