Diego Vivero and Bijoux Win $50,000 National Grand Prix at the 2017 Winter Equestrian Festival

Wellington, FL - February 19, 2017 - Ecuador's Diego Vivero and Bijoux concluded week six of the 2017 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) with a win in the $50,000 National Grand Prix held on Sunday, February 19, on the derby field at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL.

Also competing on Sunday, Ireland's Daniel Coyle and Simba de la Roque were victorious in the $35,000 Hollow Creek Farm Under 25 Grand Prix, presented by EnTrust Capital.

The 2017 Winter Equestrian Festival continues with its seventh week of competition, featuring CSI 5*/2* competition sponsored by Suncast®, on February 22-26, 2017. The $380,000 Suncast® Grand Prix CSI 5* is the highlight event on Saturday night, February 25. The 12-week WEF circuit continues through April 2, 2017, awarding over $9 million in prize money.

Week six course designer Richard Jeffery (GBR) set the track for Sunday's $50,000 National Grand Prix and had a four-horse jump-off. The winning time of 34.44 seconds belonged to Diego Vivero and Javier Estrada's Bijoux, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Cartani x Athletico).

Taylor Land (USA) finished second riding Jay Land's For Edition with a time of 36.56 seconds. Nicole Shahinian-Simpson (USA) cleared the short course in 36.62 seconds to place third riding Silver Raven Farms' Akuna Mattata. Leslie Howard and Annie Phillips' Street Legal were fast in 35.20 seconds, but incurred eight faults to finish fourth.

"I am very happy. I have had this mare for only ten months," Vivero stated after his win. "She is very fast and very brave. We are a team now, and I think she going to do much more.

"She is fast, and I am very competitive," Vivero detailed. "I just went fast and I trusted her today, and she was great."