ROLEX RETURNS TO FLORIDA TO LAUNCH THE 2015 EQUESTRIAN CALENDAR

28 Jan 2015

The search for ultimate perfection in equestrian sport is never ending, and as the new season dawns, the world’s greatest Show Jumpers turn their attention to the unparalleled level of competition offered by the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), the annual 12 week competition staged in Wellington, Florida.

Rolex strengthened its links with the WEF in 2014, which was the start of a long-term agreement that saw the leading Swiss watch brand become the Official Timepiece of both the Palm Beach International Equestrian Centre and the WEF.

Acknowledged as one of the finest equestrian venues in the world, the Palm Beach Equestrian Centre, the beating heart of the WEF, provides the world’s top riders with world class opportunities to both test their star horses and develop the potential of future equine heroes under the near permanent Florida sunshine. The CSI5* Grand Prix on Saturday, 31 January is the highlight of the Rolex WEF Week Four and the first 5 star competition to be staged in 2015.

ROLEX TESTIMONEES AT THE WEF

Many of Rolex’s equestrian Testimonees – the select band of elite sportsmen and women who Rolex support – will be competing at the WEF throughout the 12 weeks. They include Olympic champions Eric Lamaze and Rodrigo Pessoa, both of whom have been multiple winners of the WEF’s feature events in the past, as well as Kent Farrington, from the US, who is a new addition to the Rolex family.

Farrington, who is based in Florida for part of the year, very close to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Centre, enjoyed a superb 2014, and is now ranked number two in the world along with being the US’s highest-ranked rider.

They will be joined by Germany’s leading female rider and long-time Rolex Testimonee, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and by Dressage Testimonee, the great German champion and the WEG 2014 Team Gold medallist, Isabell Werth, who will be competing at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, which runs parallel to the WEF. Both have exciting young horses whom they hope will prove themselves in Florida as part of their build-up to the Rolex supported 2015 European Championships in Aachen later in the year.

ROLEX’S EQUESTRIAN HERITAGE

The Winter Equestrian Festival is one of the newest additions to the prestigious group of equestrian events partnered by Rolex. The company’s association with equestrian sport stretches back more than 50 years, since its initial partnership with the incomparable Pat Smythe, the most successful lady Show Jumper Britain has ever produced.

Rolex has gone on to support the three equestrian Majors: CHIO Aachen, Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ and CHI Geneva, which collectively make up the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, the sports ultimate challenge; and continues to support the very top riders in the three Olympic disciplines of Show Jumping, Eventing and Dressage.

For more information please see below:

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
www.rolex.com

Source: Revolution Sports