The first Saturday Night Lights event of the 2024 Winter Equestrian Festival started off with a repeat win for the men’s team in the $75,000 Battle of the Sexes, presented by Wellington Regional Medical Center.
The crowd-favorite event highlighted Premiere Week of the 2024 WEF, which runs through March 31 at Wellington International.
The men have now buoyed their win tally in the Battle of the Sexes to four in the event’s 14-year history with two wins in a row. The winning team on Saturday, Jan. 6 was led by captain Charlie Jayne and also included James Billington, Christian Coyle, Jordan Coyle, Luis Larrazabal, Simon McCarthy, Sohnke Theymann and Michael Tokaruk.
The women’s team for Battle of the Sexes consisted of team captain Nicole Jayne, Carly Anthony, Taylor Land, Kelly Soleau-Millar, Samantha Alexis Mackenzie, Abigail McArdle, Audrey Schulze and Elin Uppling.
The Battle of the Sexes is made up of three phases, with the first being a Table C faults-converted speed course where the riders go head-to-head over the same course. The one with the fastest time gains a point for their team. Following the first phase, the men’s team had a commanding lead at six to two.
In the second phase, each team had three relay groups, where a trio of riders each did a section of the course with five points up for grabs. The men swept the round by winning both phases of the relay. After round two, the team total stood at 16 for the men and still only two for the women.
The final phase was a match race where riders competed at the same time over a course that mirrored itself in the ring. Three points for each race won were up for grabs, and the fate of the evening was decided in the third round when McCarthy beat out Mackenzie. The final score was 28 to 11 in the men’s favor.
“My original plan was to go smooth and fast, but that went all out the window when I almost missed the first jump and was sitting in a chair seat over the fence,” said McCarthy of the start to his winning match-race on Mr. Earl, owned by McCarthy’s student Bobby Malmrose. “When that happened, speed came to mind, and I tried to go as fast as I could. When I heard Samatha had one fence down, I knew that I could take the win as long as I finished the course.”
McCarthy has competed before in the Battle of the Sexes.
“It’s a brilliant class,” he said. “This is my third year doing it, and we’ve won the last two, so it has been a great experience so far. It’s good for the crowd; the format of boys versus girls is easy for everyone to understand and allows them to root for their team. I think it’s also great for us as riders to compete as a team with people we normally compete against.”
Despite the women’s loss, team captain Jayne was positive in defeat. “We all get so serious when season comes around, so it’s nice to start off with a class that we take seriously, but can still have fun with,” she said. “Everyone brought their A-game; we were so close throughout the rounds, but we didn’t have luck on our side this year. As hard as it is to admit, the boys brought great horses and their best, and I have to respect that.”
Pam Tahan, chief executive officer of Wellington Regional Medical Center, participated in the prize giving for the $75,000 Battle of the Sexes.
“As always, it was an exciting and fun night here in Wellington,” Tahan said. “We love to see the community come out and support the equestrians. We are thrilled to be part of everything that happens [at WEF], and we look forward to the great year ahead.”
