Syracuse, NY (November 2, 2009) – It was another successful year of high level international, national and junior/amateur jumping along with top hunter and equitation competition at the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament featuring the 126th National Horse Show. The courses were designed by Richard Jeffery of Dorset, England.
The international jumper division was dominated by youth this year, with 21-year old Darragh Kenny of Ireland taking the two top prizes and barnmate Hillary Dobbs, also 21, proving her consistency all week by topping the standings going into final event, the Animal Planet Sporthorse Cup.
Early in the week the veterans showed how it was done. In the two speed classes, Dobbs and Marengo put in tough-to-beat rounds only to be edged out both times by Olympic and World Champion Rodrigo Pessoa on his fleet-footed Palouchin de Ligny. It was Olympic and World Equestrian Games veteran Gerco Schröder of the Netherlands who took the Pasmore Stables Horsemans’ Cup, the World Cup Qualifier prep class. He and Eurocommerce New Orleans beat out seven other riders in the jump-off. And finally, Great Britain’s Michael Whitaker channeled his inner Beatle to take the CN Gambler’s Choice, Syracuse’s popular costume class, dressed at Sgt. Pepper and riding Udokus.
The $100,000 Budweiser FEI World Cup Qualifier of Syracuse saw a seven-horse jump-off in which half went clear: Dermott Lennon, Christine McCrea, Dobbs and Kenny. In the end it was a Dobbs/Kenny battle with only .21 seconds separating them. Kenny and Obelix were the fastest to Dobbs and Quincy B’s second place. McCrea and Vegas, the 2008 winners, were third.
Seven riders qualified for Sunday’s Animal Planet Sporthorse Cup for a competition that went down to the wire: Keean White (CAN), Darragh Kenny (IRL), Michael Whitaker (GBR), Leslie Howard (USA), McLain Ward (USA), Margie Engle (USA), and Hillary Dobbs (USA). Ward and Engle led after the first “hit and hurry” Phase. The 4-bar, Phase II, changed the landscape with Kenny and Ward tied for the lead and Howard only a point behind. Perfect scores in Phase III for Howard and Kenny and 4 faults for Ward moved Kenny to the top, dropped Ward to third and squeezed Leslie in for second place. Kenny rode both Bazooka de Muze and Gael Force in his second major win at the Tournament in less than 24 hours.
Besides elite jumper competition, the finest in hunters and equitation graced the Tournament through the 126th National Horse Show. The hunters ran their classes on Wednesday through Friday. The highlight event, the ASPCA Maclay National Championship, was held on Saturday, October 31. In all 150 riders were tested on a course designed by the judges, Bill Moroney of Middleburg, VA, and Jack Towell of Camden, SC, in cooperation with Richard Jeffery. When the 2009 ASPCA Maclay National Championships came to a close, it was 17-year-old Zazou Hoffman of Santa Monica, CA, who prevailed through three rounds to win this year’s coveted equitation final.
Earlier in the week, several championships were awarded. Francesca, owned by Pony Lane Farm of Bluffdale, UT, and ridden by Maggie Jayne of Elgin, IL, were named the Grand Champion Open Hunter after they won two hunter division championships. Jayne was named the Leading Hunter Rider. Francesca’s success also gave them the title of National Horse Show Grand Hunter Champion. Jennifer Alfano of Buffalo, NY picked up the Regular Working Hunter championship on Kid Rock’s “big brother,” Rock Star. Caitlin Ziegler of Mequon, WI, rode Safari to the Grand Junior Hunter Championship, while Darby Toben of Princeton, NJ, and Nijinski were the Grand Amateur-Owner Hunter Champions. In the Large Junior 15 & Under Hunter division, Lillie Keenan of New York, NY, stepped up to the championship spot on North Country, owned by Blantyre Farm. Jennifer Waxman of Chagrin Falls, OH, finished out her last show as a junior rider with plenty of success in the hunters. She rode Red Panda for John Ingram to the championship in the Small Junior 16-17 Hunters. Darby Toben and Nijinski have been on a roll this fall and picked up their second Grand Champion title here, thanks to their championship in the Amateur-Owner 18-35 Hunters. In the Amateur-Owner Over 35 Hunters, Ellen Toon of South Salem, NY, repeated her championship performance from last year on Invincible.
In Junior/Amateur Jumper Competition, the Spy Coast Farm High Junior / High Amateur-Owner Jumper winner was Victoria Birdsall on Jerremy taking home the $12,000 prize. Reed Kessler on Flight was second and Saer Coulter on Chalan was third.
About the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament: Each fall, the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament welcomes the top-ranked equestrians from across the US and the world to downtown Syracuse to compete at the War Memorial Arena in the Oncenter Complex. The event features a full slate of high-level competition, entertainment, shopping and exhibitions and runs from November 3 – 7, 2010. A 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, the Syracuse Invitational benefits Cornell University Equine Hospital and the Vera House. For more information on the National Horse Show, please visit www.nhs.org.
CAPTION: Darragh Kenny and Gael Force won the $100,000 Budweiser FEI World Cup Qualifier of Syracuse (Credit: Reflections Photography, Inc.)
CAPTION: Zazou Hoffman of Santa Monica, CA won the ASPCA Maclay National Championship
###