Green Cove Springs, FL — January 30, 2010 — Tonight’s $25,000 Jacksonville A-Z Grand Prix sponsored by North Florida Hunter Jumper Association closed out Week IV of competition with one of the most successful riders in show jumping, Aaron Vale, adding another win to his illustrious career.
After a week of observation, course designer Allen Rheinheimer put all he learned about today’s starting field into a lengthy and technical 13 obstacle/6 effort test with a time allowance of 96 tight seconds. “It was a little bit on the snug side for sure,” chuckled Vale about the tick tock of the clock. A vast majority of the faults in round one occurred from battling the clock, with 3 horses retiring and 6 having time issues. It wasn’t until the 6th in the field of 21, birthday girl Claire Lee, that the audience saw a clear round. Lee and partner High Roller posted a clean run of 91.786, which held as the only perfect ride until 3 rounds later when Vale and Platinum assured a jump off with a clean 94.083 seconds. Only one other horse and rider combo, Tony Font and Gardenio (owned by YZ Partners LLC) with a clean 93.776, would accompany them to the final round. Vale said, “This was surprising. When I walked the course I thought, wow – we had 9 clear last week, we’re going to have more clear this week. We only got 3 so sometimes you just can’t tell. Allen did a great job.” Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=10050
Celebs contribute to the retirement of Secretariat’s son
GEORGETOWN, KY – JANUARY 29, 2010 – Academy Award, one of the only surviving sons of Triple Crown winner Secretariat, has arrived at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, KY. Michael Blowen, Old Friends founder and president, made the announcement earlier today.
Golden Globe-winning actress Angie Dickinson, a long-time supporter of Old Friends, is sponsoring the retirement of the 24-year-old stallion, along with Secretariat’s owner Penny Chenery and Boston-based TV producer Barbara Bowen.
“Michael and I have been friends for a long time and I adore the horses,” said Dickinson, the star of TV’s Police Woman and such films as Point Blank, Rio Bravo, and Dressed to Kill. “Now, I finally have an Academy Award, and I can’t wait to see him.” Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=10043
Green Cove Springs, FL — January 29, 2010 — Week four of the Jacksonville Winter Series kicked off one of its featured events at 7PM under the lights of the covered arena with a cheering crowd and a talented field of competitors vying for bragging rights and prize money in the debut of the USHJA National Hunter Classic sponsored by Blue Gate Farm. Jacksonville, FL native Megan Young partnered with Levaro won all rights hands down in the two round event.
The newly launched program has similarities to the popular International Hunter Derbies. It is a two round event, and round one – the Classic ride is set with a minimum of 10 obstacles. Fence heights are 3 foot, but there are four option fences on the course set at 3’3 and 3’5. The layout also consists of at least one In and Out, Bending Line, Line with an unrelated distance, and a long approach. Ideally the course is to simulate one reminiscent of a hunt field, offering a variety of classic jumps with different appearances such as natural post and rail, stone walls, coops, oxers, and brush. This varied palette gave course designer Paul Jewel, of Lambertville, NJ quite the challenge in creating his work of art and judges Tucker Ericson, Claudia Rolland, and Keith Hastings the difficult task of selecting the best interpretation.
Megan Young was third in the order with first ride Sundance, owned by Juliana Keaton, and the pleasing pair landed an 81 plus 4 bonus points for a total first round score of 85. Three horses later and it was Amanda Forte riding the Journey’s End Farm of Glenmore, PA entry Paramount to capture the lead with an 86 and 4 bonus points to overtake Young with a score of 90. Levaro and Young were the last duo of the initial round, laying down a solid ride which the judges rewarded with a total of 87 points. “Jump one was a little spooky and scary because it was made of hay bales with a log on top! Plus I think one of the biggest challenges was just the way the ring was set up, with the banners on the sides and then jumping the oxers off the bending line towards that wall.” Young added of the first course, “The third fence was so far away that I’m sure some people got a little anxious there too.” Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=10041
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