Kincannon and Conroy Guide Alltech National Horse Show’s Kentucky Debut

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ANHS mgt team, Bobby Murphy, Robby Murphy, Hugh Kincannon, Ellen Veitch and J. P. Bordeleau. Photo: © Kenneth Kraus/ PhelpsSports.com.

Lexington, KY – August 11, 2012 – When the Alltech National Horse Show makes it Kentucky debut in November, the first class production will be under the direction of one of the nation’s most trusted and experienced managements teams.

The Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, will be held from November 2-6, 2011, at the beautiful, new Alltech Indoor Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. This year’s debut event is designated a CSI4*-W and the featured class, the $250,000 Alltech National Horse Show Grand Prix, will be a 2011/2012 FEI World Cup qualifying event. The ASPCA Maclay National Championships will take center stage on the final Sunday of the show.

Leading the production and heading up the management team are Co-Managers Hugh Kincannon and Leo Conroy.

Hugh Kincannon’s management resume is an impressive one.

Kincannon’s talents were evident early on in his career, as he developed a highly successful series of horse shows at his farm just outside of Cleveland, and then additional events in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1982, he joined forces with the Murphy family at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Since then, he and his team have been producing top rated USEF horse shows at the Kentucky Horse Park for over three decades. His spring and summer series of shows are always near sell-outs and are among the most popular and respected horse shows in the United States.

He has managed and produced the USEF National Pony Finals for the past four seasons. Along with co-manager David Distler, one of Kincannon’s crowning achievements was his direction of the highly successful and beautifully orchestrated Show Jumping at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at the Horse Park last year.

The same pair, along with the USEF’s Joanie Morris, can also take credit for the amazing resurgence of the FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships, an event that has found a new home in Lexington, thanks, in part, to Kincannon’s expertise.

Joining Kincannon is long time and well respected horseman, Leo Conroy, formerly of New Jersey, now based in Wellington, Florida.

Conroy brings a lifetime of experience to the team. In addition to being a world-class trainer and horseman, Conroy is one of the most sought after judges in the country. He has marked the card at every major horse show in North America including the National Horse Show when it was at its original home at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He’s judged at Devon, The Royal Winter Fair, The Pennsylvania National Horse Show and the Washington International Horse Show.  Internationally, he was honored to be one of the judges of the Royal Dublin Horse Show in Ireland. Conroy has also judged every major equitation champion in the nation, including the ASPCA Maclay National Championship, the USEF Medal Finals and the USET East and West Coast Finals.

He managed the Old Salem Horse Shows for years, and helped organize the Pepsi Million Dollar Challenge and handled the duties at the famed Monmouth County Horse Show in New Jersey. He has also been actively involved in the production of the Pony Finals.

“I am extremely honored to be a part of the management team at this year’s Alltech National Horse Show,” Conroy stated. “Hugh Kincannon has an excellent team, with a well-deserved reputation for staging top class events which I have experienced myself as both an exhibitor and also as a judge. I am confident that with the support of the ANHS Board of Directors and the fabulous team at Alltech, we will produce the premier equestrian event in the country.”

“Leo brings a wealth of knowledge to an already experienced team,” Kincannon said. “This is our ‘home field’ and the great advantage for our management team is, we’ve been doing it here successfully in Kentucky for years and years. When you’re intimately involved with a facility, from ground breaking to present day, it gives you a real head start.”

“This is a great management team,” said National Horse Show of America, Ltd. President Mason Phelps, Jr. “If you talk to any exhibitor, you always hear the same thing. The Kentucky shows are the best managed shows in the country. Adding Leo Conroy to the mix, a guy that has intimate knowledge of the National Horse Show and its inner workings, creates a perfect match,” he said.

J. P. Bordeleau, Kincannon’s Technical Coordinator, will handle the same duties at the Alltech National Horse Show. “He’s my go-to guy for so many different issues. He’s a handy and resourceful problem solver and he gets the job done,” Kincannon described.

Kincannon’s partner, Robbie Murphy, has been a part of Kincannon’s team from the beginning, handling the footing in nearly a dozen different locations on the Horse Park grounds. Kincannon’s Kentucky Horse Shows, over the years, have been a nation-wide leader in maintaining excellent and well-reviewed footing. “We’ve got nearly two million dollars of the Otto Sport footing installed throughout the Horse Park, including the Alltech Arena,” noted Kincannon. “Robbie has been in charge of footing since we competed in a single grass field here at the Horse Park.”

Robbie’s son Bobby Murphy, whose imaginative endeavors have helped create such events as “Hats Off Day,” a salute to the Kentucky Horse industry, will act as assistant technical coordinator and assistant course designer at this year’s Alltech National Horse Show.

The Alltech National Horse Show Secretary is one of the nation’s most popular office managers. Ellen Veitch, over the years, has lent her expertise to some of the country’s best run and most exhibitor friendly horse show offices. “I attended the National Horse Show in its heyday in New York City. It’s a wonderful American tradition and I’m thrilled to be a part of the debut event here in Kentucky,” Veitch noted.

From the Alltech National Horse Show offices, Executive Coordinator, Carolyn Vincent, tracks of all of the vital and many times time-sensitive details, including entries and Regional competitions for the ASPCA Maclay National Championship.

“When I was much younger and attended the National Horse Show during its heyday in New York,” Kincannon concluded, “it was so very special. For our hunter and jumper industry, the National was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The National rewarded a year’s worth of excellence. Even if you didn’t qualify for New York, because the show was so special, you would still go to the event because you wanted to see the National and be a part of this very special event. We’re going to restore that very special feeling,” he noted.

Completing the overall management picture, is John Nicholson, the Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Park, whose support and expertise has been an extraordinary help as the Alltech National Horse Show found a new home in Kentucky. “After many, many years of expanding our profile here at the Horse Park, including our partnership with Alltech for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, everything we’ve ever talked about has always had a keen focus on our legacy, building step by step, always creating something better than where we are now, always looking to the future. I would suggest to you, if there are any skeptics left as to what we’ve done here in terms of building the profile of equestrian sports; not only here but across the continent, let them come to the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in November and see the Alltech National Horse Show.”

“I speak on behalf of the entire Kentucky Horse Park in saying that we are honored to be chosen as the venue of the Alltech National Horse Show and it is our sincere wish that it will be a long and happy association,” Nicholson concluded.

The Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, will be held from November 2-6, 2011, at the beautiful, new Alltech Indoor Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

This year’s show, designated CSI4*-W, will feature a complete schedule of ‘AA’-rated hunter divisions, including the Pony Lane Farm High Performance Hunter section. Also on the agenda, a big money Open Jumper division highlighted by the $75,000 Double H Farms Thursday’s Jump-Off class, the $60,000 Spy Coast Farm Faults Converted Speed class on Friday and of course, the $250,000 Alltech National Horse Show Grand Prix, an FEI World Cup qualifying event. $100,000 will be up for grabs for the Junior and Amateur Jumper divisions, including the $50,000 SJHOF Junior/Amateur Championships, sponsored by Sleepy P Ranch, Chansonette and Deeridge Farm. The final Sunday is highlighted by the signature event of the National Horse Show, the ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay Finals, presented by C.M. Hadfield’s Saddlery.

Founded in 1883 at the original Madison Square Garden, the National Horse Show is America’s oldest indoor horse show, firmly established as a major fixture on the national and international sports and social event calendars. The National Horse Show Association’s primary activity is the annual production of the National Horse Show and all ancillary events. Over the years, the National Horse Show has provided financial aid to many worthwhile charities.

For more information on the National Horse Show Association of America, Limited, please visit www.nhs.org.

Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition – Fast Facts

What:
The Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, is a weeklong championship event featuring “AA”-rated hunters, open jumpers, junior/amateur jumpers, and the ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay Finals. The event will run November 2-6, 2011, in the Alltech Indoor Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, site of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games(TM).

Parking:
Horse Show Exhibitors may purchase a weekly parking pass at the main Horse Park entrance for $5.00. Dogs are permitted at the Kentucky Horse Park on a leash.

Directions:
The Kentucky Horse Park is located 8 miles northeast of Lexington, Kentucky at Exit 120 on Interstate 75.

Information:
Carolyn Vincent
National Horse Show
PO Box 386
Greenvale, NY 11548

Telephone:
Phone: (516) 484-1865
Fax: (516) 484-1982

Email:
NationalHS@aol.com

Website:
www.nhs.org

Shopping:
Vendors offering equestrian equipment, apparel, jewelry and home furnishings are located in the Alltech Arena.

Additional Contacts:
Vendors – Matt Morrissey at Mmorri4398@aol.com or 941-915-3457
VIP Table Sales – Kiki Umla at KIKIUMLA@aol.com or 904-607-5541
Advertising – Laura Reed at reed.laura@insightbb.com or 859-321-7687
Sponsorship – Mason Phelps at mpjr@phelpsmediagroup.com or 561-753-3389 or Susie Webb at webb_susie@yahoo.com or 301-520-6162

Hotels:
CLARION HOTEL (formerly Holiday Inn North) – 859-233-0512 – Approximately 4 miles
FAIRFIELD INN & SUITES BY MARRIOTT – 859-977-5870 – Approximately 4 miles
FOUR POINTS SHERATON – 859-259-1311 – Approximately 4 miles
LA QUINTA – 859-231-7551 – Approximately 4 miles
KNIGHTS INN – 859-231-0232 – Approximately 4 miles
EMBASSY SUITES – 859-455-5000 – Approximately 4 miles
MARRIOT GRIFFIN GATE – 859-231-5100 – Approximately 4 miles
RESIDENCE INN – 859-231-6191 – Approximately 5 miles
COURTYARD BY MARRIOT – 859-253-4646 – Approximately 5 miles
HOLIDAY INN GEORGETOWN – 502-570-0220 – Approximately 6 miles
RAMADA INN – 859-299-1261 – Approximately 6 miles
RED ROOF INN – 859-293-2626 – Approximately 6 miles
HAMPTON INN – 502-867-4888 – Approximately 6 miles
SUPER EIGHT – 502-863-4888 – Approximately 6 miles
MICROTEL INN & SUITES – 502-868-8000 – Approximately 6 miles

For further information on housing in the Lexington area, we invite you to visit:
www.visitlex.com and www.georgetownky.com.

Management:
Kentucky Horse Shows, LLC
P. O. Box 11428
Lexington, KY 40575-1428
859-233-0492 (phone)
859-233-0495 (fax)
email: hakshows@earthlink.net
website: www.kentuckyhorseshows.com

ALLTECH MEDIA CONTACT:

Susanna Elliott
Corporate PR Manager, North America
Alltech Corporate Headquarters
3031 Catnip Hill Pike
Nicholasville, Kentucky

Telephone: (859) 887-5144
Mobile: (859) 473-2696

Email: SuElliott@alltech.com
Web site: www.alltech.com

NATIONAL HORSE SHOW 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

About Alltech:
Founded by Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech is a global animal health and nutrition company with 31 years’ experience in developing natural products that are scientifically proven to enhance animal health and performance. With more than 2650 employees in 128 countries, the company has developed a strong regional presence in Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle-East, Africa and Asia.  For further information, visit www.alltech.com. For media assets, visit www.alltech.com/press.

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