Tag Archives: Classic Champions Developing Jumper Finals

American-Breds Shine at Classic Champions Developing Jumper Finals

Out of the Blue SCF ridden by Jennifer Waxman. Photo by EQ Media.

LEXINGTON, KY – Sept. 21, 2019 – On the penultimate day of the 2019 Classic Champions Developing Jumper Finals, young jumpers competed in the Rolex Stadium for the final round of competition in the Classic Champions series. The finals, held during the Kentucky National Horse Show, was the culmination of the season at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Classic Champions Developing Jumper Finals opening classes on Wednesday served as a warmup to allow the horses the opportunity to become familiar with the Rolex Stadium. Thursday featured a power-and-speed format and the results were used to produce the final order of go. Each entry returned Saturday with a clean slate. The top prize of the Classic Champions series was fair game for all the contenders.

Tom Holden, vice president of Classic Champions and course designer for the week’s event, asked the horse-and-rider combinations to rise to the occasion with a fair but challenging course as the finale to the series. The Table II Sec.2(ab) format offered riders the option to stay in the arena or return at the end if they were successful in advancing to the jump-off round.

The judges selected the winners of the Classic Champions Award of Distinction to one outstanding jumper from each age division for style, ride-ability, quality of canter and overall potential for future success in the sport. Whether or not these young horses won their classes, the judges gave the award-winners the nod for having the qualities to become a top jumper.

Continuing her hot streak into the weekend, AliBoo Farm’s Belgian Warmblood mare (Calano Z x Role Model), Palano ABF, received the honor in the 4-year-old division.

Waxman earned the first, second, and fourth place with Out of the Blue SCF, a Belgian Warmblood mare (Verdi x Casa Blanca La Silla), One in a Million SCF (Presley Boy x Werly Chin De Muze), and Olive Martini SCF (Amaretto D’Arco x Allisson) in the 5-year-old section. She then went on to produce a second and fifth place with New Moon SCF (Cunningham x Gera 28) and Nightshade SCF (Baldev x Olisina) in the 6-year-olds, and finished her day with a victory on Maui SCF (Verdi x Lazuli) in the 7-year-olds.

Out of the Blue SCF earned the Classic Champions Award of Distinction in the 5-year-old division. Waxman, originally from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, thanked Lisa Lourie from Spy Coast Farm for the opportunity to compete her talented young jumpers.

Our Day Farm’s Maggie Jayne took the charge in the 6-year-old division with Elizabeth Lang’s American Warmblood stallion (Dulf Van Der Bisshop x Ed Dakhla), Wisconsin ODF. Jayne and the stallion edged out Waxman and New Moon SCF by less than one-half second to clock through the timers in 36.378 seconds.

All three top finalists in the 6-year-old section, including third place finisher, Kim Woodsum’s Belgian Warmblood stallion Narcotique B, ridden by Lisa Goldman-Smolen, are all American-bred young athletes. Narcotique B (O’Splendido x Jenna B), bred by Allyn McCracken and her Bannockburn Farm, was awarded the Classic Champions Award of Distinction in the 6-year-old section.

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David O’Brien Earns Top Prizes on Day 2 of Classic Champions Developing Jumper Finals

David O’Brien and Octavious SCF won the 5-Year-Old division. Photo by Shawn McMillen.

LEXINGTON, KY – Sept. 19, 2019 – Day two of the Classic Champions Developing Jumper Finals kicked off competition in the Rolex Stadium at the 2019 Kentucky National Horse Show Thursday. Young Jumpers in the 4, 5, 6, and 7-year-old divisions had the opportunity to gain confidence and experience at one of the country’s most picturesque venues.

Course designer and vice president of Classic Champions, Tom Holden, builds inviting courses that allow the up-and-coming horses to become confident and enjoy the work. Holden, who hails from Ireland, has spent many years working as part of the Irish Young Horse Championships.

Each of Thursday’s divisions from the 5 through 7-year-olds were held in a Table II Section 2(d) format, a two-phase competition. All horse-and-rider combinations complete both rounds regardless of faults in the first phase. Scores are decided by accumulating the faults incurred over both phases and any time penalties.

Spy Coast Farm’s David O’Brien was victorious in both the five-year-old and seven-year-old divisions with Octavius SCF and Maldonado SCF, respectively.

“The courses today were great,” said Spy Coast Farm’s Lisa Lourie. “They were very well designed and asked the right questions for young horses but not dumbed down. It was very appropriate.

“We’re very excited at Spy Coast because we are starting to really develop some top quality jumper horses. After a decade of work to inspire quality breeding, America is finally becoming a place where people recognize they can now purchase very good young horses.”

O’Brien and the five-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Diktator Van De Boslandhoeve x Beluga) were one of only six double clear rounds and crossed through the second-phase timers in an efficient 35.320. The farm’s 7-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Diktator Van De Boslandhoeve x Simbette) was one of only three to finish double-clear in his division with a winning time of 29.716 seconds.

“What I really enjoy about this show and these classes is that they are all about bettering the young horses,” O’Brien explained. “Even if a horse has a problem or an error somewhere, they can always get out of it and regroup which builds their self-esteem.”

Maggie Jayne and Alex Jayne’s American Warmblood stallion (Amaretto D’Arco x Athena), Arizona ODF, took the red ribbon while Megan Wexler and Dolce Vita rounded out the top three.

Taylor Flury piloted the 4-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Calano Z x Role Model), Palano ABF, to a second consecutive high score of 85.00 points in the 4-year-old exhibition division. She also picked up another win in the 6-year-old class with Nefertari ABF, a Belgian Warmblood mare (Diktator Van De Boslandhoeve x JFA Cirque D’chiari ABF) also owned by Flury’s Aliboo Farm, Inc.

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