Riding in a Fantasy World
Wellington – February 6th, 2016–
During the night of Saturday, February 6th, coinciding with the fourth week of the Winter Equestrian Festival at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, was held the seventh Charity Challenge presented by Fidelity Investments. The riders braved the terrible weather conditions captivating the public with some great performances.
The Charity Challenge was founded by the Bellissimo Family (Mark Bellissimo and her daughter Paige) in 2010 with the main objective to gather the equestrian community in Palm Beach, to raise funds and support a charitable cause. It is the largest charity event in the state of Florida, with a total of 34 different organizations competing to receive a part of the $ 1.5 million.
The charity organizations depended on their fairies (3 riders) at the competition. This year the central theme is fantasy, the riders surprised the public with gorgeous costumes like Frozen, Shrek, Snow White, Game of Thrones, Queen of hearts, among others.
Lindsay Tomeu (disguised as Wendy) was the first rider with Bonaparte, a 15 year old gelding. Kaely Tomeu (as Tinker Bell) was the next to jump with the Holsteiner Mare Belle Bleu S. Finally Shane Sweetnam (as Peter Pan) jumped 1.30. Peter Pan, Wendy and Tinker Bell, the three completed the jumping route with the best time of 89,55 seconds and getting the first prize, an endowment of $ 150.000 for their charity (Georg Snow Foundation). The team was sponsored by Costa Spy & Preston, (main sponsor) and Fidelity Investments)
Georg Snow is dedicated to help people with financial needs through a scholarship program for residents of Palm Beach. His objective is to help people in the community to achieve their training objectives, ensuring that the students can achieve higher education due to lack of funds.
The second place went to the team of Bella’s Angels, whose main sponsor was EnTrust as well as corporate sponsor Wellington Equestrian Realty. The Sydney team Schulman, Cloe Hymowitz and Sophie Rueben completed the course with a combined time of 93,94 seconds getting the second prize, a total of $ 125.000 for his charity. The Children Cancer Foundation ended in third place for the second consecutive year and won § 112.500. The team was formed by Ignacio Maurin, Emanuel Andrade and Victoria Karam, sponsored by Hollow Creek and corporate sponsor Meralex. They ended up with a total of 95.48 seconds.
In its seventh year, the GCC has awarded more than $ 1.65 million in 2016, with 100% of the profits distributed to 50 charity organizations in Palm Beach, which has distributed a total of $ 9.2 million until this day.
Mark Bellissimo highlighted the strong involvement of the riders and the public, „We’ve really seen the dedication of everyone involved in the event tonight. The weather has not been with us, but the horses, riders, grooms, coaches, sponsors, charity representatives, spectators and staff have struggled against the bad weather, for this special event. We could not be more grateful. We know the big impact involved for GCC for charities at Palm Beach, it means a lot. Congratulations to all our riders, charities and sponsors for a wonderful evening, despite the rain“
GCC Executive Director Anne Caroline Valtin said, „The competition tonight was a true demonstration of sportmanship and philanthropy. Taking into consideration the weather conditions we’ve had this winter, teams and riders have not given up. Their dedication to these organizations has been stoic“
Press release from Ann Caroline, edited by EQCompetitions