Lake Placid, NY—July 3, 2005—Kent Farrington of Southport, CT won the $60,000 Budweiser Grandprix of Lake Placid CSI 2* for the Whitney Perpetual Challenge Trophy to close the 36th annual Lake Placid Horse Show.

Farrington, 24, was one of five riders from the starting field of 21 to qualify for the tiebreaking jump-off by riding without penalty over the 16-jump course designed by Pierre Jolicoeur at the North Elba Showgrounds. The first of the five to return for the nine-jump tiebreaker course was Sydney Olympic veteran Margie Engle of Wellington, FL who has been a Grandprix champion in Lake Placid six times. Engle completed the jump-off fault-free in 42.42 seconds on Hidden Creek’s Perin, the 15-year-old German-bred gelding on whom she won the class in 2001.

Two rides later, Farrington entered the ring on Madison, the 9-year-old, Dutch Warmblood mare on whom he won the Budweiser Grandprix of Devon this spring. Farrington matched Engle’s clean ride and claimed the win by finishing in a faster time of 40.70 seconds. Engle, as the only other clean ride in the jump-off, finished second as she did a year ago. Third place went to Jeff Welles of Newtown, CT, who won the class in 2000. He finished the jump-off with the fastest four-fault ride of 41.93 seconds on Armani. Also scoring impressive wins on the horse show’s final day were Danielle Torano, who rode Lojana to victory in the $10,000 Mirror Lake Inn Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic, and Whitney Weeks, who rode Subliem to victory in the $10,000 Shamrock Ventures LLC High Junior Jumper Classic. Both Classics are member events of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series and award valuable points toward qualifying for the Hall of Fame Series Final at the National Horse Show in Wellington, FL in November.

This year’s Lake Placid Horse Show schedule also featured the 1.35m Adirondack Store Jump-off won by Laura Chapot on Noteworthy; the 1.40m Hilton Lake Placid Resort Speed Challenge won by Laura Chapot on Samantha; the 1.45m Whiteface Mountain Open Jumper class won by Jimmy Torano on Aguila; the 1.35m Hilton Lake Placid Resort Time First Jump-Off won by Darragh Kerins on Far West; the 1.40m Lake Placid Resort North American League (NAL) Open Speed Stake won by Laura Chapot on Samantha; the 1.50m Turtle Lane Farm Open Jumper Welcome Stake won by Jeff Welles on Armani; the 1.45m Golden Arrow Open Jumper class won by Laura Chapot on Sprite; the Y106.3 Low Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic won by Blythe Masters on Camaro 48; the Whiteface Lodge NAL Adult Amateur Jumper Classic won by Murray Kessler on All That; the Adirondack Life Low Junior Jumper Classic won by Julie Welles on Lapeti; and the Sidelines NAL Adult Amateur Hunter Classic won by Pamela Vance on Carrier. The horse show also celebrated the show’s youngest riders with the Juliam Farm Lead Line Class in the Grand Prix Arena following the C.M. Hadfield’s Saddlery Parade of Champions.

The I Love New York Horse Show follows the Lake Placid Horse Show at the North Elba Showgrounds in Lake Placid, July 5-10. It will be highlighted by the $75,000 Hermès I Love New York Grandprix CSI 2* on Saturday, July 9. The 2005 I Love New York Horse Show schedule also includes the Lake Placid News/Adirondack Daily Enterprise Open Jumper Stake and the 1.35m WPTZ News Channel 5 Jump-Off on Wednesday, July 6; the 1.40m Wild Horse Winery NAL Open Speed Stake and the 1.50m Pin Oak Farm Open Jumper Stake on Thursday, July 7; the 1.40m Price Chopper Speed Challenge and the 1.45m Nicola’s Restaurants Open Jumper class on Friday, July 8; and the Shamrock Ventures LLC High Junior Jumper Classic and the Charlotte Bobcats Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic on Saturday, July 9. Both of these events are member events of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame series.

Also held on July 9 are the Woodlea Farms Parade of Champions, the Kathy Scholl Equitation Championship and the highlight of the second week— the $75,000 Hermès I Love New York Grandprix CSI 2*. After the Grand Prix, the Richard and Diana Feldman Perpetual Challenge Trophy for Excellence will be awarded to the rider who has won the most prize money in the two Grand Prix combined. Once again, the Lake Placid Horse Shows will also offer the $25,000 Hidden Creek Challenge, with $25,000 to be awarded to any horse-and-rider combination that wins both the Budweiser Grandprix of Lake Placid CSI 2* and the Hermès I Love New York Grandprix CSI 2*.

On Sunday, July 10, the Lake Placid Lodge WIHS Adult Amateur Jumper Classic and the Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau WIHS Children’s Jumper Classic will be held. Both these classes are member events of the WIHS Championship Series and will count as points towards the Championship held at the Washington International Horse Show. The Levy Family Low Junior Jumper Classic and the Pepsi Pony Hunter Classic will be held on Sunday, July 10 as well.

The horse shows’ 13th annual Doggie Costume Contest, sponsored by Lonesome Landing and the Brown Dog Café and Wine Bar, returns on Saturday, July 9 at noon. All people with leashed dogs in costume will be admitted to the horse show free of charge. Contestants will strut their stuff in a special ring set up near the horse show’s Richard M. Feldman Grand Prix Field. There is no entry fee. Awards, including the Lulu Perpetual Trophy for the funniest costume, will be presented to this year’s “top dogs.” New award categories for this year include “Best in Show – Group,” “Best in Show – Solo,” “Most Unusual,” “Most Personality,” and the top three “Overall Best.”

The 2005 Lake Placid Horse Show and I Love New York Horse Show sponsors include A& M Beverages, Adirondack Life, Adirondack Store, American Grandprix Association, Anonymous, Ariat International, Inc., Barbara & Michael Bitterman, Brandy Parfums, Ltd., The Brown Dog Café and Wine Bar, Budweiser, The Charlotte Bobcats, Jane Forbes Clark, C.M. Hadfield’s Saddlery, Inc., Clothes Line Laundry, The Cottage Café, The Country Saddler, Ltd., David R. Fowler Custom Tack Trunks, Der Dau Custom Boots and Shoes, Fox Run, Ltd., Golden Arrow Hotel, Grill 211, Hermès, Hilton Lake Placid Resort, The Hooker Family, Horse Watch, James Leslie Parker Photography, Juliam Farm, Lake Placid Lodge, Lake Placid Resort Hotel & Golf Club, Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau, The Levy Family, Lonesome Landing Garden Center, McDonald’s, Mirror Lake Inn, Moss Communications, Mountain Horse, Mr. Mike’s Pizza & Pasta, Muirfield Insurance, Inc., Nicola’s On Main, North Elba Park District, On a Fence Designs & Rentals, ORDA/Whiteface Mountain, The Phillips Family, Pin Oak Farm, Price Chopper, Red-Kap Sales, Ruthie’s Run, Sidelines, Shamrock Ventures LLC, SLVR by Aerogear, Turtle Lane Farm, The Tytel Family, Unusual Silver, U.S. Olympic Spirit Store, The Whiteface Lodge, Wild Horse Wines, Woodlea Farms, WPTZ News Channel 5, and Y106.3 – Mountain Communications LLC.

Admission to the Lake Placid and I Love New York Horse Shows is $2.00 on weekdays and $5.00 on weekends. Children under the age of 12 are admitted free. Tickets are available at the gate. For more information, please call the Lake Placid Horse Show Association at (518) 523-9625 or visit www.lakeplacidhorseshow.com.