Lexington, KY – November 8, 2011 – Open Jumper action at the Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, wrapped up on Saturday night with a fast-paced jump-off during the Alltech National Horse Show $250,000 Grand Prix CSI-W. Richard Spooner and Cristallo set the pace with tidy inside turns and a clear effort, beating Great Britain’s Nick Skelton aboard Carlo 273 by just three-tenths of a second. Jessica Springsteen and Cincinatti Le Silla rounded out the three as the fastest four-fault combination during the short course.

Spooner and Cristallo, owned by Show Jumping Syndicates of Agua Dulce, CA, were the first to master the technical course and qualify for the speed phase. The “Master of Faster” did not disappoint when he returned to the ring with his veteran mount. He made a very nice inside turn to the first wide oxer, and followed it with another very tight turn to the wall before galloping home over the double combination and final oxer. Although it almost seemed that the turn to the wall would be too much, Cristallo leapt over it without a rub and the pair broke the beam at 37.970 seconds with all the rails intact. The pair set a pace that no other horse and rider combinations would be able to catch, and eventually led the night’s victory gallop.

Skelton was the last to challenge the short course with Carlo 273, and the speedy duo produced the only other fault-free round. They also managed to catch all the inside turns, and although they had a fast gallop through the end of the course, a slow start proved costly when they tripped the timers at 38.33 to place second.

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