Hayley Barnhill was victorious with Podest during the 2010 ASPCA Maclay National Championships. Photo Credit: Rebecca Walton/PMG.
Syracuse, NY – November 7, 2010 – Today marked the final day of competition at the 2010 Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament featuring the 127th National Horse Show. The highlight event at the Oncenter Complex in Syracuse, NY, was the 2010 ASPCA Maclay National Championships. Riders worked all year to qualify for this event and after three phases of competition and it was 17-year-old Hayley Barnhill of Collierville, TN, leading the victory gallop and taking home the championship honors.
In the first round of competition, 153 riders were tested on a course designed by the judges, Scott Hofstetter and Melanie Smith Taylor in cooperation with course designer Richard Jeffery. The fences included a vertical-oxer-vertical triple combination, a natural fan jump off of a sharp left turn and then a sharp right turn to the ASPCA fence. Riders then continued to a tall vertical on the left lead before making their way to a triple bar double combination. While some riders had difficulties during the first round, the course was very inviting overall and gave riders many opportunities to show-off their horsemanship.
The Netherlands' Jeroen Dubbeldam steered BMC Van Grunsven Simon to victory in the fourth leg of the 2010/2011 Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping series in Verona, Italy. Photo: Kit Houghton.
DUBBELDAM DELIVERS IN VERONA by Louise Parkes
Verona (ITA), 7 November 2010 – The Netherlands’ Jeroen Dubbeldam broke the German stranglehold on the 2010/2011 Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping series when delivering a sensational victory in Verona, Italy this afternoon. German riders dominated at the first three legs at Oslo (NOR), Helsinki (FIN) and Lyon (FRA) so far this season, but the flying Dutchman set an impossible target when second to go in today’s thrilling 10-horse jump-off and couldn’t be caught despite the best efforts of the world-class field that followed him.
His winning margin was a narrow one however as Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, winner with Checkmate just a week ago in Lyon, came dangerously close to making it a back-to-back double with a superb performance from the 17 year old Shutterfly who was only fractionally slower against the clock. And Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and Casall La Silla finished third in the star-studded line-up. Dubbeldam was crowned Olympic champion in Sydney (AUS) in 2000, Michaels-Beerbaum’s many successes include three Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping titles and, most recently, team Jumping gold at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA, while Bengtsson took individual silver at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Also in the top ten today were Carsten-Otto Nagel (4th) who was a member of that German gold medal winning side last month, Ireland’s Billy Twomey (5th) who finished individually 11th in Kentucky, and the man who continues to wear the Rolex armband as No. 1 Rider in the World Rankings, Kevin Staut from France (6th). This truly was a line-up of champions.
Margie Engle and Indigo jumped to victory in the $100,000 Detwiler Fenton FEI World Cup Qualifier of Syracuse. Photo By: Reflections Photography.
Syracuse, NY – November 6, 2010 – The fast paced action continued in downtown Syracuse today. The featured class of the night was the $100,000 Detwiler Fenton FEI World Cup Qualifier of Syracuse presented by G&C Farm. The great US rider, Margie Engle, out rode 27 riders representing six countries to take the lionshare $100,000 purse. As she stepped into the arena as the last of three qualifiers of the jump-off, Margie Engle knew all she had to do was to keep the rails from hitting the dirt and she would leave the ring as the winner of the $100,000 Detwiler Fenton FEI World Cup Qualifier of Syracuse presented by G & C Farm. Her Dutch warmblood horse, Indigo, helped her reach that goal as the massive grey gelding gave it his all over every fence and crossed the timers clean in 39.15 seconds. “He’s such a trier. He gives it everything he has,” said Engle after her win.
Earlier this afternoon Engle also rocked the house by winning the $30, 0000 TK99 Speed Derby. Besting a field of 22 riders from five different countries was rider Margie Engle and her mare Pamina L. The pair dominated the class with a blistering clean round in 48.91 seconds. The only rider to come close to taking home the blue ribbon was the young Irish rider, Darragh Kenny, who finished second aboard Looping Star, posting a clean go in 49.220 seconds. The TK99 class is all about speed and strategy and the key to winning is having a fast, responsive horse with the ability to turn smoothly on the fly. Rails down convert to the time so riders with errors on course could still potentially win if their horse was fast. Richard Jeffery designed a challenging course that pushed riders to move forward while keeping their horses focused on the job at hand. The fifth fence on the course, a narrow white gate in shallow cups, proved to be a bogey fence, falling several times during the performance. As the class progressed the riders pushed their horses faster and faster trying to have the best time. Although Engle’s mare jumps big over every fence, Pamina L is still incredibly fast. Although there were five riders to follow the pair, including hometown favorite Beezie Madden, no one was able to best Engle’s time and she earned the win and points towards a spot in Sunday’s Syracuse Sporthorse Cup.
William Fox-Pitt (GBR), 2010 season's winner of the FEI HSBC Classics (c) Peter Nixon/FEI
Pau, 7 November – Andreas Dibowski (GER) finally achieved the CCI4* win he so deserves with an immaculate Jumping round in the most testing of conditions at a rain-soaked Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), the final leg of the HSBC FEI Classics.
But William Fox-Pitt’s (GBR) second place on Navigator, who hit three rails, was still good enough to win him a second HSBC FEI Classics title in three years and US$150,000.
Dibowski, who has endured four runner-up spots at CCI4*s, earned a rapturous reception from an excited, if damp, French crowd. “I am really happy and excited,” he said. “After my Dressage (he was 11th), I didn’t expect to win, but everyone needs a little bit of luck at this level and today it was my day.”
Fox-Pitt was generous in defeat. “If someone had told me I’d be second at the start of this week, I’d have thought it was a dream. It’s the first time I’ve had a clear Cross-Country at Pau! And I had to stay in second place to win the HSBC FEI Classics, so I’m very relieved and pleased and pleased with my horse for coping so well.”
Leader after the Cross Country phase, William Fox-Pitt
Pau, 6 November – William Fox-Pitt (GBR) is in line for a memorable double – and a big pay cheque – having leapt into a commanding lead after Cross-Country at Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), the final leg of the valuable HSBC FEI Classics, in which he also holds top position.
Fox-Pitt showed just why he is one of the world’s best horsemen, his magnificent round coming at the end of a dramatic afternoon’s sport in which Pierre Michelet’s (FRA) technically demanding track and the elusive optimum time of 10 minutes 35 seconds proved hugely influential.
He was only ninth after Dressage on the long-striding chestnut thoroughbred Navigator, who produced the second fastest time of the day despite taking two long routes. However, the pair survived a dramatic moment at fence 14, when the horse jumped strongly over the first of two angled houses and had to stretch over the second.
“He’s still a bit exuberant and tends to jump out of your hand,” explained Fox-Pitt, “but he’s a wonderful galloper and a lovely genuine horse.”
“The greatest victory for a Thoroughbred is not winning a race, but winning the race to live long past their days on the racetrack.”
You may have watched today’s Breeders’ Cup races. This select group of horses represents the fastest Thoroughbreds not only in the United States, but in the world. After the Finish Line congratulates these champions who provide all of us with a thrill of a lifetime.
Let’s not forget about the thousands of other racehorses who race with the will to win but do not have successful racing careers. There are other opportunities we can provide for them. After the Finish Line is dedicated to helping these ex-racehorses transition and excel in a second career.
Read about our dedication to the Thoroughbred ex-racehorses in After the Finish Line’s November newsletter, http://afterthefinishline.org/newsletter.htm. Please forward this message to your friends who are interested in helping the Thoroughbreds.
Pau, 5 November – Two of the world’s best exponents of the Dressage phase are sharing the lead at Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), the eagerly awaited finale to the 2010 HSBC FEI Classics.
Karin Donckers (BEL), who only just missed an individual medal at the recent Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, was the first of the field of 38 to score below 50, and about an hour later there were no surprises when Britain’s Ruth Edge equalled her score of 41.8 penalties.
Their two horses have contrasting experience: Donckers’s Lamicell Charizard, who she bought as a two-year-old from racing sales in Germany, is now 10 and contesting his first CCI4; Edge’s 17-year-old Two Thyme won Luhmühlen in 2007 and led the Dressage at Burghley this year before a Cross-Country refusal put paid to their chances.
Washington, D.C. (November 4, 2010) – Combined Driver Chester Weber, the eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Champion, recently shared his passion for driving with thousands of enthusiastic spectators at the Washington International Horse Show. In addition to the driving demonstrations, Weber also autographed posters and signed copies of the book, For the Love of the Horse, Volume III, which features a story about his highly decorated equine teammate Jamaica.
Weber, who helped the U.S. Combined Driving team clinch the Silver Medal at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, said the driving demonstrations at the Washington International Horse Show went extremely well. “The show always draws large crowds and it’s always a great experience for me when I get to introduce new people to the sport of combined driving,” Weber said.
Fairhill winner Clark Montgomery joins Max and me on this week’s show and Jo Whitehouse tells us what to expect at this year’s U.S. Eventing Association Annual Meeting. Take a listen right here.
Eventing Radio Episode 104 – Show Notes and Links:
Guenter Seidel brings us up-to-date on his road to recovery, we welcome Mary Phelps as an HRN Affiliate, and Heather Blitz reviews iPhone Apps. All here on this week’s show.
