Jordan Coyne and Cordovo. Photos by Carrie Wirth.
Jacksonville, FL – September 20, 2013 – The second day of the 2013 Southeast Medal Finals at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center was action-packed from morning to evening with great show jumping competition. Highlights of the day included the $25,000 Land Rover Jacksonville Grand Prix, the final rounds of the Developing Sport Horse division, the EMO Championship and the $5,000 Junior Amateur Classic.
For the inaugural $25,000 Land Rover Jacksonville Grand Prix, Allen Rheinheimer built an impressive and technical course that challenged the horse and rider’s ability to jump and turn, lengthen and shorten. Of the 23 horse and rider combinations, only three progressed to the jump off round. First to go, Jordan Coyne and Cordovo were clean in the first round and earned the right to return for the jump-off. Coyne won the $5,000 Southeast Medal Finals Welcome Stake on Thursday night aboard her other mount, Lazaro.
Thirteen rounds later, Daniel Damen and Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Waters’ Quintus 66 were the second to leave all the jumps intact. Immediately following Damen’s round, Kaely Tomeu and Siboney Ranch’s Kalle also had a fault-free round.
Coyne was first in the order and first to go in the short course. Her round aboard the younger of her two horses was fast and clear. Neither Damen nor Tomeu could best her performance and she maintained the lead that earned her the victory gallop.
“He’s an eight-year-old and I got him when he was six,” said Coyne about Cordovo, whom her trainer Derek Peterson found in Germany. “He’s a Holsteiner by Contender. He was doing 1.20m when I got him and just kind of brought him up through the ranks and he’s been doing grand prix for a year now. He’s consistently clean. He just tries super hard every time. He’s just and awesome horse to have.”
“I went first and I thought it (the course) rode nice,” Coyne said. “It rode exactly how we walked all the lines – I thought they rode really well. Overall, I thought it was a great course.”
“I wanted to try to go fast,” she said about her jump-off round. “I think I could have been a little bit faster. Going clean – I put the pressure on the other two to go clean. So overall I think we did the plan. Great show! We appreciate Land Rover sponsoring.”
“It’s fun to have a horse that we’ve developed and he’s gone consistently clean in grand prix,” said Coyne’s trainer, Peterson. “He’s only 8. He jumped clean in several grand prix as a 7-year-old. He was bought as a sales project. It sure is fun to have one like this that comes along and does this. I’m so proud of Jordan. It wasn’t her type of horse to start with because she’s used to one that had a whole lot of motor dragging her around. Now this one – you’ve got to ride with some leg and she’s learned how to ride both now. It’s a big accomplishment to ride two opposite horses and do well on both of them.”
The final two classes of the Developing Sport Horse division kicked off the day’s competition in the indoor arena on Friday. The second and third rounds of the division were awarded to Carracci Blue, owned and ridden by Christina Kelly. The pair earned scores of 92 in the first class and 89 in the second; they did not compete in round one on Thursday.
Round one’s winner, Little Zegg and Silvio Mazzoni, earned second place with their score of 84 in the second class Little Zegg had a rail and ended up in third place. Tempting, owned by Loretta Patterson and ridden by Danielle Grice of Northfield, MN, earned second place.
The Developing Sport Horse division championship was determined by averaging the scores of the rounds. Temping and Danielle Grice earned the championship with and average score of 83.
“I think it is a great idea,” said Grice about the judged young jumper division. Grice is Holly Shepherd’s assistant trainer at Accolade Farm in Grand Bay, AL. “I would love to see the judges’ cards to see where the points came from. It’s good to know. That horse is from Argentina; he came out of the Henry Jota’s sale as a three-year-old; we bought him two years ago and he’s by Indoctro. He’s been really easy. He was second in all three rounds – just very consistent. He’s been a really fun horse to bring along.”
In the EMO Championship, 41 top junior riders competed over Rheinheimer’s winding 3’3″ course. The top twelve were asked back for the flat phase, then four of those riders were selected for more testing over fences. Claudia Billups and Warran, Ashley Foster and Leena L, Haley Waters and Quito and Molly Dinapoli and Vasco all returned for the final phase. The four riders were asked to canter two jumps, trot one, canter another, and halt without stirrups.
Waters’ performance aboard Quito was smooth and stylish and earned her the win of the class.
“They really have to want to be equitation horses because it is a hard life,” said Haley’s mother, Dana Waters. “He is – no lunge- no practice. He was meant to do this in his life. Daniel Damen is who has been training Haley and I think that Haley is going to send him a thank you note for all the no stirrup work this summer.”
“I have had him since the end of last year,” said Waters, who is 17, in her senior year in high school and has one more year as a junior rider. “He’s such a good boy. He’s been great for me. He’s never done anything bad. He doesn’t need any prep at all. You just take him out of the stall and go. It’s so nice to have one that’s so brave at the jumps and so easy going for a class inside with jumper jumps. I think it’s great that they have a grand prix here now.”
For the $5,000 Junior Amateur Classic, Rheinhiemer built an impressive 1.35m course that and produced only a handful of clean rounds. In the end it was Ashley Foster aboard Indy who seized the first place prize.
“We bought him form Jason Berry about a year ago,” said 17-year-old Foster about her horse Indy. Foster traveled to SEMF from her home in Maryland. She trains with Bobby Braswell in the equitation. “I took him all last year and did the high juniors. He’s very fast.” This is Foster’s last year as a junior and she plans to go to Auburn to ride with the equestrian team.
Southeast Medal Finals returns on Saturday with three rings of more exciting show jumping. Highlights include the SEMF Hunter Classic, The SEMF Amateur Owner Classic, The final championship round of the Child/Adult Jumpers, the Phelps Media Group SEMF Junior Medal and the SEMF Adult Medal.
To learn more about Southeast Medal Finals, visit www.southeastmedalfinals.com.
Southeast Medal Finals Fast Facts:
WHAT: The Southeast Medal Finals is a USEF A-Rated indoor hunter, jumper and equitation horse show. USEF Rated Jumper Level 3
WEBSITE: www.southeastmedalfinals.com
WHEN: September 19-22, 2013
WHERE: The Jacksonville Equestrian Center, Jacksonville, FL, featuring a large indoor coliseum with 3,000 seats, two outdoor rings and 500 permanent stalls.
13611 Normandy Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32221
FEATURES:
- Phelps Media Group Southeast Junior Medal Finals
- Southeast Adult Medal Finals
- ASPCA Maclay Regionals
- $25,000 Land Rover Grand Prix of Jacksonville
- $5,000 Welcome Stake
- $7,500 Child/Adult Jumper Finals
- New European Style Developing Sport Horse Division
- New Southeast Children’s Hunter Final
- New Southeast Adult Hunter Final
- EMO Cup Championship
Click here for the prize list, entry forms, schedules and more.
HUNTER & EQUITATION JUDGES: Linda Andrisani & Molly Flaherty (Hunter, Maclay & SEMF), Tony Sgarlatta (Hunter, Equitation & SEMF), Jennifer Drahan (SEMF)
JUMPER JUDGES: Allen Rheinheimer & Fred Brown
STEWARD: Janet McCarroll
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Susan Rindal – 904-655-5497 – rindal@bellsouth.net
James Lala – 561-906-6668 – jdlala@aol.com
Bob Bell – 843-768-5503 – bbell@earthlink.net
DIRECTIONS: For map and address information, visit http://www.southeastmedalfinals.com/Location.aspx.
Carrie Wirth for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
MEDIA CONTACT:
Phelps Media Group, Inc.
12230 Forest Hill Blvd.
Suite 214
Wellington, FL 33414
561-753-3389 (phone)
561-753-3386 (fax)
pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com
www.phelpsmediagroup.com