Bertram continued his winning streak in Wellington yesterday, winning the CSI4* Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup Round 4 class of 54 on Ballywalter Stables GK Casper and making it two wins from two starts in two days on the tour. Photo ® Sportfot Eight combinations made it through to the jump-off over course designer Anderson Limas (BRA) testing track. All eight jumped clear in the second round, so it all came down to speed to determine the finishing order. Bertram, who had the benefit of being last to go, broke the beam in 39.00 seconds, with home rider Natalie Dean and Marigold Sporthorses LLCs Jewel De Kwakenbeek nipping at their heels in a time of 39.02 seconds.
Bertram said: Hes a good horse and very, very careful so you can really ride him at the jumps and normally he doesnt have too many down. I wanted to win this class, but it wasnt a class to take a crazy stupid risk in, so I said Id just do as good as I can. It was very close, but thankfully it was good enough for today. Casper is no stranger to North America. At his last visit in 2019 the duo won the World Cup class in Toronto. This is the first week back up and at it and he feels great, so hopefully now hes in for a good few weeks.
Bertram has ridden the 12-year-old gelding by Canto 16 since he was six;

“We know each other inside out. He’s taken a bit longer to get to the top level, but he seems to be getting there now. He’s a cheeky bugger but he’s bold and he knows he’s good and has a big character, which is nice.”