Sunday, March 5, 2006

Caroline Roffman and Bulgari 5 Claim Double Victory in FEI Young Riders at Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI***/CDIY

Roffman Continues her Reign In the FEI Young Rider Prix St. Georges Class

In Saturday's FEI Young Rider Prix St. Georges class Roffman claimed victory again, despite going off course. “It was completely, obviously, my fault so I was really upset that I did that because he was being so good,” she said with a smile. “That mistake and a mistake in the three’s brought the score down a little bit. It wasn’t as neat. He was really ride-able and manageable so I was just happy with that because sometimes he’s not.”

Taking second place today in the FEI Young Rider Prix St. Georges was Tara Dougans with Nashua who earned 65.00%. Laura Noyes and Syncro were third on a score of 63.833%. Leah Wilson and Amusanat earned 63.583% for fourth. Roffman and Rigaudon again claimed fifth earning 61.917%. Kayce Redmond and Cheval V placed sixth with 61.750%.

Roffman noted that Bulgari 5 was previously shown in Germany at the Prix St. Georges level, but was not a high-scorer. “He’s the kind of horse that wants a relationship with his rider and he was ridden by a man who was a professional over there and I just don’t think he was loved,” she says. “We have a really nice relationship and he’s happy to be a girl’s horse and have a ‘mom’. We had a 50-pound bag of carrots that we gave him yesterday because he was so good. He’s pretty spoiled. He loves bananas.” She also pointed out that Bulgari’s personality has earned him the nickname ‘Bully’. “He’s a tough guy. He’s got a very strong personality. He’s very opinionated and he wants what he wants when he wants it. He’s demanding and pretty pushy but we get along. It took a year to get a relationship. He’s not a horse you can say, “Do this!” – you have to say, “Please, please, please will you do this for me?” but when he gives, like today, he’ll give you everything.”

Roffman’s fifth-placed mount Rigaudon was acquired as a Second Level sales/project, but in the past year has moved up to Prix St. Georges. “This was his third Prix St. Georges ever, so it was okay,” Roffman said. “It was not his weekend but I was very happy with him.”

Roffman is looking forward to making the Region 3 Team for the NAYRC. “My goal is to qualify both horses for Young Riders. I’ll take whichever is stronger, most likely Bulgari.”

Trainer Silke Rembacz was pleased with her student’s success at the show. “She’s a tremendous talent as a rider. She’s got enormous talent, great feel and we’ve pretty much just been trying to develop that. Things are really easy for her,” Rembacz said. “It’s fun to work with her because she’s really focused and really concentrating. If you say, ‘okay, we want to work on this today’, she’ll sit down and work on it – it doesn’t matter what it is, which makes her so successful. She’s doing fantastic. I’m very, very proud of her.” Rembacz also noted that Roffman’s parents, Andrea Azram and Stuart Roffman, have been very supportive.

“It’s a good team all the way around – a good trainer, good horses, and Caroline’s a good kid,” said Mrs. Azram. “We’re very proud of her, very pleased and very excited about the opportunities that she has and her success. She loves it. It’s great.”