Tag Archives: equestrian competitions

Craig Barrett and Sandhills Brillaire Make History in Adelaide

Craig Barrett takes home the HSBC Training Bursary as the highest placed rider never to have previously completed a 4* event. (Jenny Barnes/FEI)

Lausanne (SUI), 25 November 2012 – New South Wales professional Craig Barrett, leader after the Cross Country in Adelaide (AUS), produced a classy performance with Mr and Mrs Keith Osborne’s Sandhills Brillaire in today’s final Jumping phase to clinch the title at the second leg of the HSBC FEI Classics 2012/2013.

This was Craig’s first 4* event, for which he earned the HSBC Training Bursary, which is awarded at every leg of this prestigious series to the highest placed rider never to have previously completed a 4* event. It is the first time that the winner of the HSBC Training Bursary has been top of the line-up.

The mare Sandhills Brillaire and its parents were also bred and produced by the Barretts. Craig bred the sire, Staccato by Salute, out of a Thoroughbred mare by King of Babylon, and Craig’s wife, Prue Barrett, Australia’s Eventing coach, bred the dam that is by Galveston. Twenty-year-old Staccato, a former number one WBFSH/FEI Eventing Stallion, has now sired two Adelaide 4* winners, including last year’s winner Panamera. “I don’t know if that has ever been done before,” commented Craig. “I have a paddock full of them; I’m not sure if they are as good as Brillaire, but we have to look at purpose breeding horses.”

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Craig Barrett and Sandhills Brillaire Claim Cross Country Lead in Adelaide

Craig Barrett and Sandhills Brillaire claimed the lead after Cross Country at the HSBC FEI Classics in Adelaide. (Jenny Barnes/FEI)

Lausanne (SUI), 24 November 2012 – Craig Barrett, leader after the challenging Cross Country phase of the HSBC FEI Classics in Adelaide, and riding in his first 4* competition, said he was both “absolutely thrilled” and “disappointed” after today’s action: “Sandhills Brillaire went beautifully and galloped really well, but with Wendela Jamie (Dressage leader), I just made too many mistakes.”

It was a dramatic Cross Country day that saw the top three after Dressage failing to make it through the finish flags. Barrett produced the run of the day with the competition trailblazing home-bred Staccato mare, adding just 0.8 of a time penalty to take the lead with a two-day total of 51.80.

Barrett’s other ride, Wendela Jamie, had a runout at the costly number 13, a skinny fence on a related distance off the island in Rymill Lake, and it was here too that Stuart Tinney came to grief and retired after the big grey, Pluto Mio avoided the issue twice.

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Shane Rose and APH Moritz Take the Lead after Dressage in Adelaide

Shane Rose and APH Moritz “have a good day at the office”, taking the lead after Dressage at the HSBC FEI Classics in Adelaide (Jenny Barnes/FEI)

Lausanne (SUI), 23 November 2012 – Beijing Team Silver medallist Shane Rose had a good day at the office today in Adelaide, taking the lead in the HSBC FEI Classics Dressage phase, as well as the CCI 2* competition.

Rose claimed the early lead in the HSBC FEI Classics with 45.80 penalties riding the Leder family, Jamie McDonald and Lee Hokianga’s Australian-bred Warmblood, APH Moritz by APH Coriolo.

He is closely followed by HSBC Bursary candidate Craig Barrett, who has started but never completed the four-star competition in Adelaide, but certainly means to do so this year riding the 2011 Melbourne CCI 3* winner, Wendela Jamie. Henry and Helen Hicks’ impressive Thoroughbred gelding is just a breath away on 47.30 penalties. And just over a point away from Barrett, Stuart Tinney is well placed in third with John and Jane Pittard’s 2012 New South Wales Eventing Champion, Pluto Mio.

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Atlanta Fall Classic II Grand Prix and More

Rave Reviews!

Schuyler Riley pilots Waterloo over a jump in the $45,000 EMO Grand Prix

The Atlanta Fall Classic wraps up two record breaking weeks to close out the 2012 season at the Georgia International Horse Park!  As we celebrate Thanksgiving, Classic Company thanks you for your support!

Big numbers all around – prize money, entries and happy competitors – sum up the grand finale of the Classic Company’s 2012 show season which closed out Sunday, November 18 at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia.

Forty five horse and rider combinations in Friday’s Welcome paved the way for the $45,000 EMO Grand Prix on Sunday with 34 vying for the win.  Three rides went clean and the jump off saw world renowned riders Schuyler Riley and Darragh Kenney battling it out for the win.  It was Riley of Wellington, Florida in the irons aboard M. Michael Meller’s Waterloo who captured the win in a double clear jumping effort of 38.660 seconds while Kenney rode Hays’ Investment Corp.’s Any Given Sunday to a second place finish with a time of 40.015 seconds and eight jump faults.  Kenney also took third aboard Atlanta Equestrian Center’s User ID although after rails in the first two jumps of the jump off round, elected to retire.

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Angel Karolyi Begins New Partnership with $30,000 Raleigh Grand Prix Win

Angel Karolyi guided Indiana 127 to victory in the $30,000 Raleigh Grand Prix at the RMI Raleigh Benefit Horse Show. Bob Branam, Branam’s Photography

November 20, 2012 – Raleigh, North Carolina – Competing in their first show together, Venezuela’s Angel Karolyi and Indiana 127 scored victory in the $30,000 Raleigh Grand Prix at the RMI Raleigh Benefit Horse Show held November 14 to 19 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

2008 Olympic course designer Steve Stephens whittled a large starting field of 26 entries down to four jump-off contenders in the Saturday night feature event.  Karolyi had the advantage of being the last to go, having watched Sloan Coles post a clear round riding Chantilly while Tracy Magness and Regan Roberts both faulted.

“I was able to watch Sloan go with her very quick, careful mare,” said Karolyi.  “She was the only one clear in the jump-off; however, she chose to go around one of the inside options.  I thought if I had a chance to beat her, that would be my opportunity to do so.”

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Peter Pletcher and NLF Shakespeare’s Rhythm Win $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby

Peter Pletcher and NLF Shakespeare's Rhythm won the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Final Chase Horse Show. Photo By: Morgan German

Katy, TX – November 20, 2012 – Topping off a successful 2012 show season for Nordic Lights Farm, Peter Pletcher claimed another Derby victory during the Final Chase Horse Show with NLF Shakespeare’s Rhythm. Pletcher took home the winning prize during the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby after piloting NLF Shakespeare’s Rhythm to the lead during both rounds of competition. The pair also claimed the championship honors in the Performance 3’6″ Hunter division earlier in the week after winning two over fences classes.

“NLF Shakespeare’s Rhythm was awesome this weekend,” expressed Pletcher. “He was jumping very crisp, and as always, he was very brave in the ring. The Derby had a nice course with some really big option jumps and he’s really good at the high jumps. In the handy round there were strides going away from the gate to the first jump and you could go either direction, but I decided to go straight at it.  He was super, had a beautiful jump this weekend and rode amazing.”

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Heidi Degele and Don Fredo Score 78.5% to Win

Heidi Degele and Don Fredo enjoy a victory pass after scoring 78.5% at the recent GCDA Fall Fling. (JRPR photo)

Wellington, FL (November 19, 2012) – USDF Gold Medalist, Heidi Degele, rode to the win aboard Don Fredo at their first show together during the Gold Coast Dressage Association Fall Fling November 10-11, 2012.  Scoring 78.5% in the 4- and 5-year-old Materiale Class and earning an 8.5 at the Walk, 8.0 for Trot, 7.0 for Canter, and an 8.0 overall Impression, this dynamic new duo made quite a spectacular debut.  “From the first time I saw Don Fredo, I truly believed in him and felt that he is a truly special horse,” Degele said about the 16.2h Oldenburg gelding. “The Fall Fling was so special because it was his first show with me riding him.  We have only had him a little over a month,” she continued. “He had such a great work ethic in the warm up ring and in the show ring, and he never looked at anything. He was all business and acted more like a 10-year-old. It pleased me so much to have a young horse act that way.”

USDF Silver Medalist Jessica Beier, M.D. owns Don Fredo. Beier is an adult amateur rider based in Tifton, Georgia.  Don Fredo is by Don Frederico, who was just proclaimed Hanovarian Stallion of the Year at the 2012 Hanovarian Stallion Licensing ceremony in Verden, Germany. His grand sire is Donnerhall and his dam’s sire is Pik Bube.  “He is super sweet and playful,” says Degele about Don Fredo’s personality.  “He is always putting something in his mouth, like most babies,” she laughs.  “He knows me already, even though we haven’t had him that long, and when the owner is riding him in a lesson, he likes to slow down or stop by wherever I am sitting in the ring just to say hello.”  Degele is excited to see what else Don Fredo has to bring this season, along with the other horses and clients she has in training.

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Hunter Chancellor Claims USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final Title

Hunter Chancellor, winner of the 2012 USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final, riding Imagine My Surprise. (Howard Schatzberg)

Kansas City, MO – In an extremely competitive USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final at the United Professional Horsemen’s Association (UPHA) American Royal National Championship, Hunter Chancellor (Evansville, IN) demonstrated precise equitation skills in her rail and pattern work on Steven Chancellor’s Imagine My Surprise to take the Championship title. After earning Reserve Champion honors in 2011, Chancellor received the Gold medal from the judging panel comprised of Michael Craghead (Fresno, CA), Marilyn Mac Farlane (Simpsonville, KY), and Nancy Troutman (Salem, VA).

For taking top honors, Chancellor’s name will be engraved on the Adrian Van Sinderen Trophy and the Helen K. Crabtree Perpetual Bronze. She also received a USEF custom leather travel bag, USEF medal, rose bundle, Triple Crown Custom/Horseware Ireland cooler, and an engraved stable halter for her mount.

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Cream of Australia Aims to Rise to the Top in Adelaide

Andrew Nicholson (NZL), pictured here with Nereo at the first leg of the series in Pau (FRA) last month. (Image: Kit Houghton/FEI)

Lausanne (SUI), 19 November, 2012 – Riders in the northern hemisphere may have packed up for their winter break, but it’s all go at the other side of the world as competitors prepare for their premier event, Australia’s International 3 Day Event in Adelaide, the second leg of the HSBC FEI Classics 2012/2013.

The Australian event offers them a chance to get a foothold on the leaderboard for the valuable HSBC FEI Classics, in which last year’s Adelaide winner, Stuart Tinney (AUS), secured fifth place in the overall standings for the 2011/2012 season.

This year, Tinney, an Olympic gold medallist in 2000, rides the 14-year-old grey Pluto Mio, recent winner of the Goulburn CIC3*.

Two members of Australia’s 2008 Olympic silver medal team are competing: Shane Rose, who rides APH Moritz, second behind Pluto Mio at Goulburn and a recent winner of Berrima CIC3*, and Megan Jones.

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Super Staut Reigns Supreme in Stuttgart

Kevin Staut and Silvana HDC clinched victory for France in the fifth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2012/2013 Western European League series. Photo: FEI/Karl-Heinz Freiler

Stuttgart (GER), 18 November 2012 – Kevin Staut broke German hearts today when, despite all the odds being in favour of a home-side win, it was the Frenchman who came out on top in the fifth qualifying round of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2012/2013 Western European League series at Stuttgart.  Partnering the on-form grey mare Silvana HDC, Staut snatched what looked like certain victory from Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Noltes Kuchengirl when quicker by a margin of just one-hundredth of a second in an action-packed 11-horse jump-off against the clock.

Third place went to Portugal’s Luciana Diniz and Winningmood, while Sweden’s Jens Fredricson and Lunatic slotted into fourth.  Today’s result leaves Staut with the same number of points as Western European League leader Sergio Alvarez Moya from Spain who went out of contention this afternoon with a single mistake in the opening round of the competition.  The Spaniard, however, continues to head the league table going into the next round at Geneva, Switzerland in December because he has had more consistently strong results so far throughout this Rolex indoor season.

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