Lexington, KY – August 4, 2011 – It was a beautiful night at the Kentucky Horse Park as the nation’s top horses and riders gathered at the Rolex Stadium to compete in the $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic during the Kentucky Summer Classic. Venezuela’s Angel Karolyi and James T Kirk proved to be the best of the best, topping the two-horse jump-off with the only double clear effort. Lauren Tisbo was the first to tackle the short course with Coco 135, and their four-fault round netted them the second place prize.
Tonight’s class was the fourth of seven grand prix events that make up the Hagyard Challenge Series, sponsored by Hagyard Medical Institute and presented by Pfizer Animal Health. Following the final event in the series, a cash prize of $45,000 will be awarded to the rider accumulating the most points throughout the series for the Leading Rider Bonus.
Twenty-eight riders challenged tonight’s opening track, which was designed by Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela. For the first round, the competitors had to show over a triple bar, a liverpool, two vertical-oxer double combinations, and a vertical-vertical double combination. The end of the course proved to be the most difficult, causing many riders to incur costly penalties and elimination from the jump-off. Fence ten was a liverpool oxer off of a sharp right turn, followed by a steady five strides to the vertical-vertical double combination, and the course ended with a wide oxer just past the gate. Twelve horses had rails at fence 10, while 14 horses lowered the height of a fence in the double combination, and six then went on to add four faults to their score at fence 12.
“I walked the course and I talked to Leopoldo, and it walked quite technical and careful, not huge, but a careful course,” explained tonight’s winner Angel Karolyi. “I took my time. The time allowed wasn’t super tight, so I just made sure that I did a nice track. James T Kirk knows his job and is getting experienced; he jumped very well here in May.”