Emanuel Andrade of Venezuela guided Walter 61 to a top three finish in the $20,000 Bluegrass Classic. Photo by Rebecca Walton/Phelps Media Group.
Lexington, Kentucky – Sixteen-year-old show jumping sensation Emanuel Andrade of Venezuela earned impressive results competing against some of the top riders in the world at the 2013 Kentucky Spring Show held May 8 to 12 in Lexington, KY.
Andrade was crowned the Low Junior Jumper Champion with Quebec Star, an eight-year-old Holsteiner gelding. The pair won two out of the three classes comprising the Low Junior Jumper division, including the $2,500 Low Junior Jumper Classic, to take the Championship title, as well as the accompanying cooler and impressive trophy. He won the third class with Carboni, and also posted top three finishes in the division with Luky des Rocquelines and Casanova Junior.
Proving his talent extends far beyond the junior ranks, Andrade scored an exciting third-place finish in the $20,000 Bluegrass Classic on Saturday, May 11. In a competitive field of 42 entries which included numerous Olympians, Andrade and Walter 61, a 12-year-old Sachsen-Anhaltiner gelding owned by Hollow Creek Farm, put in a double-clear performance. Their jump-off time of 39.01 seconds was just over the winning time of 38.87 seconds set by United States Equestrian Team veteran Kent Farrington riding Zidane. Argentina’s Ramiro Quintana finished second riding Largo with a time of 38.88 seconds.
Andrade also earned a number of impressive results in the Open Jumpers, winning two 1.30m classes aboard Boccaccio and Wilkina Lithya, respectively. With Wilkina Lithya, Andrade also finished fifth in the $10,000 High Junior Jumper Classic on Sunday, May 12. He also placed second in a $5,000 1.40m competition with Costa and ninth in a $5,000 1.45m with Crossfire 10.
Proving that no challenge is too great, Andrade also demonstrated that he has what it takes to develop up-and-coming horses. Riding Reve du Paradis, an eight-year-old Selle Francais gelding, Andrade placed second in two of the 7 and 8-Year-Old Jumper classes offered.
Andrade was not the only Venezuelan achieving success at the Kentucky Spring Show. His coach, Angel Karolyi, guided Indiana 127, owned by Hollow Creek Farm, to a fourth place finish in the $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic on Thursday, May 9. From the starting field of 43 horses, Karolyi and the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding were one of six horse/rider combinations to jump double-clear, stopping the clock in 42.78 seconds. The class was won by another Venezuelan Team veteran, Pablo Barrios. The three-time World Equestrian Games competitor guided the nine-year-old Zara Leandra, who he has been riding for exactly one year, to the winning time of 38.25 seconds.
A competitive show jumper in his native Venezuela, Andrade has made a name for himself since bursting onto the North American jumper scene a little over a year ago. In 2012, he was named the Future Champions Leading Junior Jumper Rider during the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, FL, and, in 2013, earned the prestigious title of Leading Jumper Rider at the same competition. Hollow Creek Farm of Aiken, SC, where Andrade trains with Karolyi and renowned horsewoman Andrea King, was named WEF’s Leading Jumper Owner for 2013, and King was named WEF’s Leading Jumper Trainer.
For more information on Hollow Creek Farm, a large training business focusing on both horses and riders, please visit www.hollowcreekfarms.com.
Contact: Jennifer Ward
Starting Gate Communications
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