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.