An enthusiastic crowd – many in costume – enjoyed seeing 38 of the top Grand Prix riders and horses in the country take on the myriad challenges posed by Marina Azevedo’s extremely technical course. Out of 38 entries, only Vinton and Coral Reef Baloufino executed a round that left every rail intact, coming in well under the 74-second time.
Duncan McFarlane and his exuberant stallion, Mr. Whoopy delivered a stellar round only .06 seconds over the time. Jenni McCallister and Casseur de Prix also had a clean go, earning a single time fault to take third.
The Grand Prix was a highlight of two remarkable weeks on competition, including Karl Cook’s capture Oct. 27 of the Marco Perpetual Trophy awarded to the Leading Open Jumper Rider. Cook, riding Banba, clinched the GGT Footing Grand Prix Series Final ahead of 65 horse and rider pairs. Sixteen had made it to the jump off, and seven of them had impressive double-clear rounds.
In the end, Cook and Banba, owned by Signe Ostby, set forth a lightning-fast time that held off Will Simpson and Acorina.
The GGT Footing Series Final provided Cook Marco Perpetual Trophy as the leading open jumper rider, and it also left Lane Clarke as the winner of the GGT Series, earning $19,000 in prize money; Susan Artes finished second in the GGT Series with $12,000 in prize money, and Susan Hutchinson third with $4,000.
In the iJump Sports High Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic, Quintus Z, with Taylor Harris in the irons, pulled off an impressive win in this 1.40m class.In the Grand Prix Hunter Derby Final, Tara Metzner took home both first and second place aboard Davlyn Farms’ Fabricio and Come Monday, respectively. Earlier in the week, Nayel Nassar won the Sports Welcome Stake out of a field of 52 entries. Zoey Pacyna and Wonderfull earned the blue in the PCHA/Equine Insurance Childrens/Adult Jumper Championship.
Other highlights included Tara Metzner and Fabricio’s winning the Haley Farms LLC Grand Prix Hunter Derby, and Julia Nagler and Vendetta holding off the competition through two tough equitation rounds to win the Open Equitation Challenge Final. Eduardo Menezes and La Fleur 4 took home the blue in the Del Mar Welcome Grand Prix out of a field of 68 entries. In the PCHA/Equine Insurance Childrens/Adult Hunter Championship Final, it was Yvette Lang-Einczig aboard Rio Negro who secured the win.
2013 GGT Footing Grand Prix Series Final Standings
Rank Rider Earnings
1 Lane Clarke $11,000.00
2 Susan Artes $9,500.00
3 Susan Hutchison $9,000.00
4 Francie Steinwedell-Carvin $8,750.00
5 Andrew Ramsay $8,250.00
6 Mandy Porter $8,000.00
7 Ashlee Bond $7,500.00
7 Eduardo Menezes $7,500.00
9 Clementine Goutal $6,500.00
10 Karl Cook $5,500.00
10 Kasey Ament $5,500.00
12 Michelle Rodal (Spadone) $4,250.00
13 Melissa Doddridge $4,000.00
13 Will Simpson $4,000.00
15 Erin Isom $3,250.00
16 Peter Petschenig $3,000.00
17 Gabriella Salick $2,750.00
18 Francie Nilforushan $2,500.00
19 Justin Resnik $2,000.00
19 Matt Williams $2,000.00
19 Michelle Kerivan $2,000.00
19 Michelle Parker $2,000.00
19 Saer Coulter $2,000.00
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