Press release from Lake Placid Horse Shows, edited by World of Showjumping

Molly Ashe Cawley (USA) rode Lorona (Grand Slam VDL x Amadeus) to victory in the $100,000 CSI3* Richard Feldman Grand Prix presented by Friends of Lake Placid Saturday at the I Love New York Horse Show, the second week of the 2026 Lake Placid Horse Shows (LPHS), sponsored by The Bainbridge Companies and presented by Sea Shore Stables. Ashe Cawley topped a field of 33 entries at the North Elba Showgrounds. 

Six horses reached the jump-off by riding clear over the 16-effort, first-round course designed by Alan Wade, course designer for the 2028 Olympic Games. Defending champion Philip McGuane (IRL), who won last year on Orphea HQ (Emerald van't Ruytershof x Epleaser van t Heike), was first to return for the eight-effort tiebreaker course, and he rode Paso Doble SCF (Diktator van de Boslandhoeve x Cassini I) to a clean round in a blazing fast time of 37.73 seconds.

After the next three horses had faults, Ashe Cawley returned on her 10-year-old, Dutch-bred mare owned by Louisburg Farm, and she took the lead with a clean ride in 37.21 seconds. The final entry failed to catch her, giving her the win, with McGuane placing second and Nicky Galligan (IRL) finishing third with the fastest four-fault ride of 40.69 seconds on Jolly-Jessy (Emir R x Jacorde).

“I watched Philip go, and he’s blazing fast and that horse is blazing fast,” said Ashe Cawley, Lake Placid Grand Prix champion in 1999. “When he turned back to the third jump, it was a little dicey, and when he cleared it, I thought ‘game over.’ But I went in and gave it the best shot I could and somehow, I’m not sure how, we caught him.

“Lorona is just learning how to go fast. She’s 10, but she’s green, and I guess she figured it out. She’s been amazing all spring and summer. She’s jumped a lot of clean rounds. I just started going fast with her in May. She’s picked it up quickly and I couldn’t be more happy or proud of her.”

Following the Grand Prix, Ashe Cawley was presented with The Richard and Diana Feldman Perpetual Trophy for Excellence, which is presented to the rider with the best combined finishes in Lake Placid’s two Grand Prix.