Tag Archives: Grand Prix

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, HITS, HITS, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping

Ramiro Quintana Wins $40,000 HITS Grand Prix at HITS Culpeper

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©ESI Photography. Ramiro Quintana and Double H Farm’s HH Narcos Du Marais had a big weekend, riding to victory in the $40,000 HITS Grand Prix.

CULPEPER, VA (July 10, 2012) – Ramiro Quintana put just one month worth of work to good use as he piloted HH Narcos Du Marais to the top spot in Sunday’s $40,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS Culpeper. After just 30 days with the 11-year-old Selle Français gelding, owned by Double H Farm, Quintana found himself in the ribbons.

Despite a heat wave that blazed through much of the East over the weekend, horses and riders alike returned to HITS Culpeper to meet the Showday National’s qualifying opportunity for HITS Championship Weekend. Quintana of Wellington, Florida and “Narcos” led off the Sunday afternoon Grand Prix and were the first to go clear and pick up a qualifier for the famed Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix. He met four other pairs in the jump-off.

“The course was certainly suitable for the conditions, considering the heat,” said Quintana. “I think five was the perfect number clear and the course seemed to ask all the right questions.”

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Competitions, Events, Olympic Games, Show Jumping, USEF

Fellers Doubles Up at Spruce Meadows by Winning $200,000 CN Performance Grand Prix

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Lexington, KY – The fourth and final USEF Observation Event for the US Show Jumping Team for the 2012 Olympic Games wrapped up a selection process that started with the Selection Trials in March. The $200,000 CN Performance Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows in Calgary hosted 12 Long-Listed American combinations out of the 37 starters who took on Bob Ellis’ course. At the culmination of the class, Rich Fellers (Willsonville, OR) took top honors again; he was fastest of the seven which jumped first round clears.

Fellers’ effort on Mollie and Harry Chapman’s 16-year-old Irish Sport Horse stallion reinforced his win in Thursday’s Husky Energy Cup (the first part of the Observation Event). The 2012 Rolex/FEI World Cup champions returned to form after a hiatus from competition since the Del Mar Horse Show in May.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Events, Olympic Games, USEF, USEF

Steffen Peters Wins Sixth USEF National Grand Prix Dressage Championship

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Steffen Peters and Legolas 92 (Susan J. Stickle)

Gladstone, NJ – Four years ago, Steffen Peters and Ravel, then an inexperienced 10-year-old, won the 2008 Grand Prix National Dressage Championship at the Festival of Champions in California. That performance earned the pair a trip to the Olympic Games where they were fourth. Four years later, an FEI World Cup title, a CHIO Aachen victory and two Bronze medals at the FEI World Equestrian Games later – Ravel was granted permission by the USEF selectors to not attend the 2012 USEF Dressage Festival of Champions which was also serving as the USEF Selection Trial for the 2012 Olympic Games.

So Peters (San Diego, CA) brought Four Winds Farm’s Legolas 92 to the USET Foundation Headquarters instead. The result was the same. The 10-year-old Westphalian gelding, who was imported in December, has won his first National Championship. It is Peters’ sixth, tying the record previously set by Robert Dover.

Their score of 77.956% was enough to give them a four day average of 77.653% and left them less than one point clear of the runners-up Tina Konyot and Calecto V. They had the ride of their lives in Friday’s FEI Grand Prix but settled up second today and overall. Peters knew what he had to do to take the National title and he succeeded.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, HITS, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Peter Leone, Lincourt Gino and the Lionshare Farm Team Rocking HITS-on-the-Hudson

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Peter Leone and Lincourt Gino at HITS Saugerties. Photo by Taylor Burns

Wellington, FL – June 14, 2012 – Peter Leone and Monica Carrera’s Lincourt Gino continue their consistent top placings at important Grand Prix events this spring. Last week, Leone and Gino were third in the $100,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix HITS on the Hudson in Saugerties, NY. They also had a good prize in the Level 7 Jumpers.

“We have been clear in the all of our last three Grand Prix first rounds,” said Leone. “In the first two, I rode aggressively in the second round, and had rails. This time I was the first of five to go in the jump-off. My plan was to be prompt and clear. I ended up with two clear rounds, and my time put me in third place.”

The week before last, Leone and Gino were fifth in both the $25,000 and the $75,000 Grand Prix at HITS-on-the Hudson. The pair won the G&C Farms 1.45m Open Jumpers in March and placed second at the $50,000 Live Oak Derby and fifth at the G&C Farms Jumper Derby at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival with the fastest time. Gino also recently won the 1.40m at Garden State and was second in the Old Salem Spring $20,000 Speed Derby.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Events, USEF, USEF

Grand Prix, Intermediaire I and Brentina Cup Competition Highlight Second Week of the USEF Dressage Festival Championships

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Shawna Harding and Rigo. (Susan J. Stickle)

Gladstone, NJ – The 2012 USEF Dressage Festival of Champions continues this week with Young Adult “Brentina Cup” and Intermediaire I competition and the conclusion of the USEF National Grand Prix Dressage Championship.  Riders will again perform their tests in the Dick and Jane Brown Arena at the USET Foundation Headquarters in front of an international judging panel.

National Grand Prix Dressage Championship

Competition heats up in the National Grand Prix Dressage Championship as riders vie not only for a National title but also for a chance to represent the U.S. at the 2012 Olympic Games. This championship also serves as the USEF Dressage Selection Trial for the US Dressage Team for the 2012 Olympic Games. Just as last weekend competitors will perform the FEI Grand Prix Test and the FEI Olympic Grand Prix Special Test, with each test counting for 25% of the championship average.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, HITS, HITS, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping

Darragh Kenny Scores Both First and Second Place in the $75,000 HITS Grand Prix

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©ESI Photography. Darragh Kenny and Wannahave soar over a fence on course in the $75,000 HITS Grand Prix on their way to a win.

SAUGERTIES, NY (June 4, 2012) – Darragh Kenny walked away with the top two ribbons in the $75,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Sunday when he piloted Wannahave and Sandor de la Pomme, both owned by The Wannahave Group, to the first and second place honors, respectively. It was a memorable week for Kenny, who found himself in third place in Friday’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, aboard Sandor de la Pomme.

Kenny, a native of Ireland and now based out of Wellington, Florida, was one of 21 horse-and-rider combinations on a course designed by Kenny Krome of Westminster, Maryland. The first round featured plenty of action, as only five riders returned for the jump-off.

First to show in the jump-off was Kenny and his winning mount, Wannahave who wasted no time as they set the Great American Time to Beat at 40.15 seconds.

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Competitions, Events, HITS, HITS, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping

Jeffery Welles and Merlin Work Their Magic for a Win in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix

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©ESI Photography. Jeffery Welles piloted two mounts to the jump-off, but it was Merlin who carried him to victory in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix

SAUGERTIES, NY (June 1, 2012) – Two of the top-five slots in today’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, were captured by one man. Jeffery Welles of Brewster, New York rode two horses to clean rounds and won the class aboard Noel Love Gross’ Merlin, while finishing fourth on Aries, also owned by Gross.

Ken Krome of Westminster, Maryland presented riders with a challenging 13-obstacle course, which included 16 jumping efforts and its fair share of technical turns and bending lines, as well as a tight time-allowed. The track included three double combinations – a two-stride and two one-strides. The jump-off began with the return of fence nine from the first round – an airy vertical – and was followed by six more obstacles, including the first one-stride combination.

The jump-off welcomed five pairs back into the ring and Peter Leone of Greenwich, Connecticut kicked things off with an eight-fault round to finish in fifth. Welles returned second in the order to post the first clear round and set the Great American Time to Beat at 42.92 seconds aboard Aries.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Show Jumping, USEF

Emotional Night as McLain Ward Wins Seventh Grand Prix of Devon in a Remarkable Comeback

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McLain Ward and Antares F (AK Dragoo Photography)

Devon, PA – A small but mighty field of show jumping horses lined up to tackle the penultimate USEF Observation Event for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the 2012 Olympic Games. Thirteen combinations from the USEF Show Jumping Long List headlined the field of 16 in the 2012 $100,000 Wells Fargo Grand Prix of Devon.

The Dixon Oval always proves a tremendous venue at the Devon Horse Show and with improvements made over the last few years, the storied competition, though steeped with history, continues to evolve into the modern age. Another chapter in its history was written this evening as McLain Ward scored his seventh Grand Prix of Devon title. The win was full of emotion as Ward (Brewster, NY) battled back from a shattered kneecap in January to fight for his spot on his third Olympic Team.

“Obviously it feels great,” said Ward after his win. “I haven’t jumped jumps that big in a while. It’s nice to be back – it was a really hard four months.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, HITS, HITS, Show Jumping

London Bound Margie Engle Wins the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix to Finish Out Opening Week at HITS-on-the-Hudson

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©ESI Photography. Margie Engle and Royce on course in the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix

SAUGERTIES, NY (May 29, 2012) – U.S. Olympic hopeful Margie Engle didn’t waste any time settling in at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, New York this year. On Sunday, riding Elm Rock Partners LLC’s Royce, she captured the victory in the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health.

Engle, of West Palm Beach, Florida, piloted Royce to the win over a course designed by Marina Azevedo of Campinas, Brazil. Engle was one of seven who advanced to the jump-off where, as one of the most winning riders in the history of the sport, she is known to capitalize.

“This is the first time this horse has ever won a Grand Prix,” said Engle. “I just got him at the beginning of the season and he’s still young, only eight years old and he has all the raw talent in the world. This was a lot of fun today for this horse and I think he could become a really great horse in the years to come.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Kentucky Horse Shows, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Richie Moloney Masters $75,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix at Kentucky Spring Classic

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Richie Moloney and Slieveanorra won the $75,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix at the Kentucky Spring Classic. Photo Credit: Rebecca Walton/PMG

Lexington, KY – May 19, 2012 – It was a very exciting night for Ireland’s Richie Moloney as he captured his first international grand prix victory, riding Slieveanorra during the $75,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix at the Kentucky Spring Classic. The talented duo have been runner up on numerous occasions, even placing third during Thursday’s $32,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic, but tonight the luck was on their side. Six horses advanced to the jump-off, but only three were double clear, with Moloney landing at the top of the leader board, while Margie Engle took second aboard Royce, and Egypt’s Nayel Nassar rode Raging Bull Vangelis S to third.

Germany’s Olaf Petersen Jr. created a very technical course for tonight’s main event in the Rolex Stadium. With a tight time allowed, riders had to show over a triple bar, an open water obstacle, a vertical-oxer double combination, and finally an oxer-vertical-oxer triple combination, which caused errors for many of the competitors. Only six of the 31 entries were able to master the initial track and advance to jump-off, where they had to jump the double combination again while also making tight rollbacks and then galloping across the ring to reach the final oxer.

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