Press release from Kentucky Horse Shows

As the second-to-last day of the Kentucky Spring Classic II comes to a pinnacle, 30 international athletes and their mounts took to the Rolex Stadium to ride for the coveted top prize in $140,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix CSI3*, presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. Just nine combinations added their names to the jump-off list at the completion of the first round, with Argentina’s Luis Pedro Biraben and Chacco Bumpy taking home the top honors after a nail-biting jump-off.

Anderson Lima’s 16-effort first round track offered horse and athlete pairs a straightforward course around the large stadium, offering two combinations bending lines and single oxers and verticals that Ireland’s Conor Swail and his own Vital Chance De La Roque were the third combination in the arena, but the first to exit leaving all rails intact in order to qualify them for the jump-off. At the conclusion of the first round, eight additional athletes would add their name to the jump-off list, including yesterday’s $5,000 Open 1.45 Jumper CSI3* winner Cathleen Driscoll (USA), Filip De Wandel (BEL), Margie Engle (USA), Richie Moloney (IRL), Kelly Arani (USA, Santiago Lambre (BRA) and Shane Sweetnam (IRL).

Eight jumping efforts and two new fences made up Lima’s shortened jump-off track. Swail and his 2009 Selle Francais gelding were the first to contest the course, setting the bar high for the others by going double-clear with a fast time of 38.60 seconds. Driscoll and Plain Bay Farm’s Arome were next in the ring with a quick time, but they suffered an unfortunate rail at fence 10c to keep them out of contention for another victory. Belgium’s Filip De Wandel and Five Way Farm LLC’s Manhattan Van’t Leeuwerikenhof were similarly unlucky at the combination, catching a rail at fence 10b on their way around the track. Olympic veteran Engle and Gladewinds Partners LLC’s Dicas produced a clear round just four-tenths of a second behind Swail. Moloney and Equinimity LLC’s Coco Beach, Arani and Marigot Bay Farm LLC’s Impossible Dream and Lambe and his own Chacco Blue II each produced impressively clean rides, but times of 41.15 seconds, 41.27 seconds, and 38.76 seconds, respectively, kept them from unseating Swail’s top position.

It wasn’t until the second-to-last in the jump-off order that Biraben and his 2010 Oldenburg mare, Chacco Bumpy, left it all in the ring to sail through the timers with a clear ride and time of 37.94 seconds to claim the top spot from Swail. Sweetnam and Triple S Group’s Holliewood put their best effort in the stadium, but ultimately fell short of Swail and Biraben landing them the third place honors with a jump-off time of 38.69 seconds.

Show Jumping competition at the Kentucky Spring Classic II will conclude Sunday with the $15,000 Under 25 Grand Prix and the $35,000 Bluegrass Grand Prix.