Pironella
NOVEMBER 14, 2011 – BRADENTON, FL – Clermark Equestrian’s 6 year old mare, Pironella, has recently been sold to a private Canadian investor group, Angelstone Partners, headed by Ted Yew, Bobby Rhee and Harshal Dave.
The 6 year old black mare burst onto the show jumping scene in the spring of 2011, and quickly began accumulating wins during Wellington, Florida’s Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). An impressive string of over a dozen victories was capped with titles in both the Adequan 6 year old Championship Finals and Eastern League Young Jumper Finals, which took place in September during the Hampton Classic. The winning season solidified the Canadian bred horse as one of the top young jumper prospects in the world.
Pironella will return to Canada, where the Canadian Warmblood (Nonstop – Palisandra) was raised until the age of 3, and begin competing in events across North America in 2012 with Canadian Grand Prix rider, Keean White of Rockwood, Ontario. White was optimistic when asked about the mare’s future development path:
“Angelstone Partners has been dedicated over the past year to seeking out and acquiring some of the world’s best young horses – Pironella shows all the signs of becoming an elite Grand Prix show jumper and the group is eager to continue Clermark Equestrian’s initial development, which has led to an extremely successful start to her career.”
Keean White & Celena Z
In early 2011, White underwent a substantial shift in the course of his show jumping career by selling his longtime partner Celena Z to the Ashland Group of Wellington, Florida. The pair had represented Canada on multiple Nation’s Cup teams, winning the Greenhawk Canadian Show Jumping Finals in 2008, as well as competing in the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Finals.
White adds, “clearly it was a difficult decision to move on from my partnership with Celena Z, over the past year I have been on the lookout for a new horse that I felt could develop into one of the world’s best competitors, Pironella has a shot at being that horse.”
The acquisition and repatriation of the horse, bodes well for the future of Canadian show jumping. White’s goal, along with his partners at Angelstone, is to set the course to begin competing in Grand Prix events within the next 2 years with a long term goal of challenging for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team in 2016.
When asked about the aspirations, White noted, “past results indicate that the world’s elite show jumpers begin to come into their competitive prime between 10 to 12 years of age. Pironella will be at the peak of her development in 2016, and we are focused on working towards this long term goal, one of the prime reasons why we have been scouring Europe and North America to identify the best 6 to 7 year olds currently available.”
Pironella WEF 2011
Pironella was bred in Canada and acquired unbroken at a young age by the Clermont family, operators of Clermark Equestrian in Bradenton, Florida. Trainer, Brock Clermont, praised the young horse and was excited about her future with Angelstone:
“Of course, it’s always a difficult decision for a trainer to part ways with such an exceptional young animal; however, Clermark’s goal is to develop the best young jumpers in the country, and we are looking to our future prospects to excel in the show ring along a similar training regimen as we applied to Pironella. We currently have a number of young European-bred horses in the stable that are demonstrating exceptional potential. We at Clermark Equestrian wish Keean and Angelstone Partners continued success with their new horse.”
Pironella is a candidate for the Canadian Warmblood Horse of the Year award for 2011, and is currently becoming acclimated to life in Canada. She is expected to return to Florida for the early part of the 2012 competitive season and challenge North America’s best young horses at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington.
'Angela Covert-Lawrence' The winner of $60,000 Grand Prix of Rockwood
Angelstone Farms just completed its inaugural International Show Jumping Tournament. Though the weather was not cooperative it was a huge success. Angelstone has just announced it will run four International Tournaments in 2012, with two of those Tournaments sanctioned by the FEI.
APRIL 19, 2011 – ROCKWOOD, ON – Celena Z, winner of the 2008 Canadian Show Jumping Championship with Keean White, has been sold to Elm Rock LLC of the United States.
Celena Z is an 11-year-old bay Belgian Warmblood mare sired by Cumano, winner of the 2006 World Championships. Formerly owned by the Ashland Group and White’s Angelstone Farms, Celena Z has been purchased by Elm Rock LLC and will be ridden by veteran United States Equestrian Team member, Margie Engle.
White of Rockwood, ON, and Celena Z began their partnership in 2008, winning the Canadian Show Jumping Championships. In 2009, they were members of Canada’s winning team in the Nations’ Cup held in Wellington, FL, before representing Canada at the 2009 World Cup Final in Las Vegas, NV. On two occasions, White and Celena Z were members of the Canadian Show Jumping Team for the Nations’ Cup League Final held in Barcelona, Spain, helping Canada to place second in 2009 and third in 2010.
Keean White & Celena Z
“It has been a really difficult decision for me, but I believe it is the best decision,” said White, 28. “I have enjoyed three great years with the mare for which I am extremely grateful. She has been a fantastic horse for me. I would have loved to take a shot at the Canadian Team for the 2012 Olympic Games, but the sale will allow me to continue to grow my business and to invest in more horses for the future.”
Of the sale, White said, “Richard De Martini of Elm Rock LLC has purchased Celena Z for Margie Engle to ride. Margie has never been to the Olympics before and with Celena Z and Indigo, the horse she has now, the hope is that she can try to make the U.S. team for the London Olympic Games.”
White also noted, “I want to thank Susie Humes, Ken and Emily Smith, and the Schiassi family for their great support of Celena Z over the last three years. Without such great owners and supporters, I never would have had the opportunity to compete at such amazing shows around the world.”
White, a short listed member of the Canadian Show Jumping Team, will continue his 2011 competition season with Chanel, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by the Ashland Group and Angelstone Farms, as well as some new young horses. In addition, White’s Angelstone Farms will host the Angelstone International Show Jumping Tournament from September 27 to October 2, 2011, featuring the $50,000 1.45m Grand Prix of Rockwood.
For more information on Angelstone Farms, please visit www.angelstone.co
Keean White is spending the next few weeks training at the stable to prepare for the International competitions in Washington, D.C. October 28th – 31st at the Verizon Center and the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, ON at the Ricoh Coliseum from September 5th to 14th.
In Washington Keean will compete with Celena Z in the Presidents Cup and Vienna Rouge will make her International comeback after two years on the injury list as the second horse. The first week of the Royal Winter Fair features the 2010 Canadian Championship where Keean will look to regain the title he held in 2008 with Celena Z. The International week of the Royal Winter Fair Keean will compete with Celena Z, Vienna Rouge and Chanel.
For ticket information for the Royal Winter Fair visit www.royalfair.org.
By Rebecca Walton (Phelps Media Group)
JULY 15, 2010 – Blainville, QC – Once again the weather was spectacular as the Classique Internationale De Blainville (Jumping Blainville) continued at the Blainville Equestrian Park. The second day of competition in the Grand Prix Ring featured the 1.35m Open Jumper class and the Junior Amateur 1.30m Speed Class. Earning the top award in the 1.35m Open Jumper was Keean White and Concas. The pair raced the clock and tripped the timers to top the class. The Junior Amateur 1.30m Speed class was dominated by Lilis with Liam Dumon-Walker in the irons. The pair stopped the clock at 66.047 seconds to garner the win.
Today’s 1.35m Open Jumper class featured a course designed by Linda Allen. The first round included a triple bar double combination and an oxer-vertical-vertical triple combination. For the jump-off riders began with a bending line and then made a sharp right turn to a second bending line. Then they had to make a sharp right turn to the triple bar combination before galloping across the ring to a single vertical. The riders finished with a right turn to a single oxer going towards the gate.
Margie Gayford was the first rider to successfully tackle the first round course and advance to the jump-off with Winston, owned by Wingberry Farm. The pair was able to leave all the fences standing as they found their way over the track in a time of 44.216 seconds. Their clear effort set the pace and would eventually hold up for the second place prize. Kelley Robinson also had a successful short course with Cimarron Farms’ Caberlay, but their time of 44.299 seconds would fall just short of Gayford’s pace and earn them the third place ribbon.
Keean White and Concas, owned by Elm Rock, LLC, went late in the class and the opportunity to watch the other horses and riders compete proved fruitful. The new pair entered the ring with confidence and were able to leave all the rails in their cups, qualifying for the jump-off. They picked up a quick pace for the short course and soared over each fence easily. The duo galloped through the timers in 43.269 seconds with a double clear effort to take over the lead and win the day’s top prize.
“This is the first class that I have shown Concas in because we only got him three weeks ago,” noted White. “My plan for the jump-off was just to be efficient and stay on the gallop. He’s such a fast horse on his own and he’s quick in the air; today was a great day.”
Concas was purchased as new horse for Leah DeMartini, who will take over the reins in a few weeks. “I’m just feeling him out at this horse show and I may show him in Saturday’s Speed Derby or Sunday’s World Cup Qualifier,” said White. “He is a simple horse and all you need to do is find a good gallop and sit still.”
White traveled all the way from Spruce Meadows to compete at this year’s Jumping Blainville competition. “Blainville is a great show and we have been coming here for years,” he explained. “I always try to get here because the organizers are great and they work hard to put together a great event.”
Excerpt from: http://www.horsejournals.com/news/KeeanWhiteOpenJumperClassiqueInternationalDeBlainville9457560444
April 27, 2010 — Karen Cudmore of Victoria, BC, Jill Henselwood of Oxford Mills, ON, Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON, and Keean White of Cambridge, ON, will comprise the Canadian Show Jumping Team contesting the Nations’ Cup at CSIO4* Lummen, BEL, from April 28–May 2.
Cudmore was Canada’s representative at the 2010 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Final in Geneva, SUI, held April 15–18, 2010. In Lummen, Cudmore will ride her World Cup Final mount, Southern Pride, a 12-year-old Holsteiner stallion owned by her husband, Blair Cudmore.
2008 Olympic silver medalist Henselwood will ride Bottom Line, an 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Bradon Construction. The pair recently won the $300,000 Lamborghini Grand Prix of the Desert, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, in Thermal, CA, on March 14.
Olympic Champion Lamaze will ride Ronaldo, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Ashland Stables. Lamaze currently stands second in the Federation Equestre International (FEI) Rolex World Rider Rankings.
White, the 2008 Canadian Show Jumping Champion, will ride Celena Z, a 10-year-old Zangersheide mare owned by The Ashland Group and Angelstone Farms.
Funding for the Canadian Show Jumping Team to compete at CSIO4* Lummen is made possible through Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympian Committee’s Own the Podium program, a national sport technical initiative designed to help Canada’s summer and winter athletes achieve podium success at the Olympic Games.
Nine countries will field teams in the Lummen Nations’ Cup. Canada will compete for top honours against Belgium, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Japan, France and Italy. Canada last competed in the Nations’ Cup at Lummen in 2008, earning a second place finish among 14 countries.
A Nations’ Cup is the only competition in show jumping where riders, competing in teams of four, compete against other countries for victory. The top three scores from each team are counted towards the final result of the two-round competition.
More information, including results during the competition, for CSIO4* Lummen are available on-line atwww.csiolummen.be.
Original article from : http://www.equinecanada.ca/jumpcanada/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=174
NOVEMBER 4, 2009 – TORONTO, ONTARIO – The 2009 Royal Horse Show will open this Friday, November 6th, with an action-packed weekend highlighting the best in Canadian equestrian sport. Held as part of the 87th Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, The Royal Horse Show offers over $750,000 in total prize money and runs from November 6 through 15 at the Ricoh Coliseum, Exhibition Place. The entire Horse Show will be webcast live, with an on-demand subscription service available, at www.royalfair.org.
Defending Canadian Champion Keean White will head into the weekend hungry to reclaim his title in the $100,000 Canadian Show Jumping Championships presented by Greenhawk. The two-phase event will headline the evenings of Friday, November 6, and Saturday, November 7. White will face stiff competition from 23 of Canada’s top riders including veterans of the Olympics (six, including nine-time Olympian Ian Millar), Pan-Am Games, World Cup Finals and numerous Nations Cup competitions.
“We’ve had a great show season so far, with 24 top ten finishes, a first place in the Nations Cup in Wellington and a second in the Nations Cup in Barcelona,” remarked White. “I am looking forward to defending my title this weekend!”
“The Canadian Championships are one of the major highlights of the year for Jump Canada,” explains John Taylor, Chairman of Jump Canada, the committee of Equine Canada responsible for overseeing all jumper activities in Canada. “We are thrilled to have the top riders from across the country together competing for $100,000 in prize money. It’s going to be an exciting weekend of jumping in Toronto!”
Highlights of the second week’s International jumper division includes the $100,000 CN FEI World CupTM Qualifier, the $50,000 Weston Canadian Open, the inaugural $50,000 Royal Team Challenge and the $75,000 Ricoh Big Ben International Grand Prix.
This year’s Royal Horse Show will run November 6th through 15th, 2009. By the time the competition ends, nearly $750,000 will have been awarded in prize money, making The Royal the most prestigious and hotly contested event of the season. For more information, media accreditation, live webcasting, complete schedule, results and to purchase tickets, please visit www.royalfair.org.
OCT 3, 2009 – OTTAWA, ON – Keean White and Celena rode to a strong 4th place finish at this weekend’s first All Star Grand Prix. The event was held at Ottawa’s Scotiabank Centre and featured 22 of Canada’s top show jumpers. The All Star Grand Prix weekend began with a Canadian PBR tour event on Friday evening, followed by the Kubota Speed Class on Saturday afternoon.
4,500 fans were in attendance on Saturday to see Canada’s top Equestrians face off in a dual round event which saw the top ten finishers from the first round come back to compete in a jump off to determine the winner in the $150,000 class.
- Celena Z and Keean White at All Star Grand Prix
Celena Z has been jumping very consistently in the past month and is coming off numerous top ten finishes in a recent tour of European events, which had Rockwood’s Keean White making stops in France and Spain prior to returning home to Canada to compete in Ottawa.
The first round of competition produced only three clear rounds from the field, and Celena Z was able to move into the final round round with a 4 fault first round performance. During the final round, White rode aggressively through the tight course and turned in a clear performance with the night’s second quickest time to secure a 4th place finish behind Mac Cone, Amy Millar and Yann Candele.
Celena Z will move on to an indoor show in Syracuse before ending the season in Toronto at the Royal Winter Fair, where White will be defending his 2008 Canadian Championship.
Keean White Signing for Fans
Round One Video:
Round Two Video:
OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Sept. 17, 2009) – Top world ranked Canadian equestrian athletes will compete in the Equestrian All-Star Grand Prix, part of the Agri-Sport All Star Weekend taking place at Scotiabank Place, Oct 2 & 3. Among the world-class champions competing are Olympians Jay Hayes, Beth Underhill, John Anderson, and 2008 Silver Medal winning Olympic Team members Mac Cone and Jonathan Asselin.The man to beat is local hero Ian Millar of Perth, Ontario who will also be competing. Millar was a member of the 2008 Olympic team and has participated in more Olympic Games than any Canadian athlete in any sport.
Hot on his heels will be a new generation of riders including his own family, Amy and Jonathan Millar. Other up-and-coming young talents vying for the top spot include David Arcand and Paul Halpern from Quebec, Tamie Phillips of Alberta, Gary Brewster from British Columbia and Keean White and Yann Candele from Ontario. In addition to the Millars from Perth, other local favourites set to compete include Kanata’s Karen Sparkes (daughter of local hi-tech mogul Terry Mathews) and Lauren Hunkin of Kemptville.
Premiering in Ottawa this fall, the Equestrian All-Star Grand Prix is set to raise the bar on family entertainment. Get ready to cheer local riders and favourites in this high-action sport as the horses soar over six-foot obstacles to beat the clock and cross the finish line with all jumps standing. This premier showcase of Canada’s elite high-performance equestrian athletes and gold medal sport entertainment takes place Saturday, October 3rd.
Individual and multi-event packages for the Agri-Sport All-Star Weekend (all events: $141.75 and $105 or Saturday only: $78.75 and $57.75) are on sale now and can be purchased by calling 613-599-FANS (3267) or 1-877-788-FANS (3267); in person at The Sens Store at Rideau Centre and Place d’Orleans, any Ottawa Sports Experts location and at the Scotiabank Place box office.
SUNDAY SEPT 20, 2009 – BARCELONA, SPAIN – Team Canada competed in the 2009 Meydan FEI Nations Cup in Barcelona and earned a second place finish among a group of six countries including Spain, Poland, Norway, Finland and Hungary. The show jumping event was held over two rounds with each team of four riders being allowed to drop one score for each round. Canada’s Nations Cup Team consisted of Amy Millar on “Costa Rica Z”, Jenna Thompson on “Zeke”, Jonathon Millar on “Contino 14” and Keean White aboard “Celena Z”.
In the first round of competition, Amy Millar and Jenna Thompson opened up with 4 fault performances capped off by a clear round by Perth, Ontario’s Jonathon Millar. Keean White rode in the fourth position, but after knocking down a rail early in the round, chose to ride aggressively in order to prep his horse, Celena Z, for the second stage of the competition. White added, “after the first rail, I knew that we wouldn’t be in a position to better any of the scores of my teammates, so I made sure to get some additional rubs throughout the round to put Celena Z into a frame of mind to jump strongly in the second round.”
The Canadian team entered the second round of competition with a combined score of 8 faults, trailing behind the Spanish team, which managed to post three clear rounds in the first phase of the competition. Brother and sister Amy and Jonathon Millar, posted strong rounds of 4 faults each, and Keean White and Celena Z finished up with a clear final round to put the Canadians into a second place position for the Nations Cup Competition. The Canadians took home a prize of 25,000 Euros for the placing, but could not catch the Spanish team, which took home the victory in front of their home country crowd.
Credit: Function2 Inc.
http://www.function2.com