Aimee Aron and Jamaica Race to Junior Jumper Senator's Cup Win at Washington International Horse Show

PHOTO CREDIT: Aimee Aron and Jamaica win Senator's Cup at the Washington International Horse Show. Photo by Diana DeRosa Photography.

Washington, D.C. - October 29, 2005 - Aimee Aron of Keswick, Virginia outraced Brianne Goutal of New York City for the hard fought victory in the $10,000 Senator's Cup Junior Jumper Stake on Saturday afternoon at the 2005 Washington International Horse Show. The show, at the beautiful MCI Center in Washington, D.C., runs through Sunday.

Twenty-two starters went to the post in the early afternoon feature. The Senator's Cup was scored under USEF Table II, Sec 2a, Time First Jump-Off. The course was designed by Steve Stephens of Palmetto, Florida.

Of the twenty-two original starters, seven mastered the first round course to advance to the second round tiebreaker to the jump-off against the clock.

Aimee Aron and Jamaica emerged victorious following an incredible jump-off ride that saw Aron knock a whopping 1.67 seconds off of early leader Brianne Goutal's speedy time.

Goutal, aboard her mount Onira, had moved to the top of the leader board with a clean round in what appeared to be a winning time of 24.566 seconds. Sometimes though, appearances can be deceiving.

Aron and Jamaica followed Goutal and Onira in the order. From the very start, it was apparent that Goutal's lead was in jeopardy as Aron flew around the shortened course. Her daring, hairpin turn from fence seven to a double combination sealed the deal for Aron, and as she raced home the scoreboard flashed up the winning time of 22.896 seconds.

Aron talked about her winning ride. "Going after Brianne, especially when she's on Onira, I knew I had nothing to lose, and to win, I had to go all out," she said. "I think luck was on my side because we both had great rounds today."

Goutal knew that she had left the door open for Aron. "I knew I could be beaten today. I was too casual." Goutal admitted. "I was too easy going to the first fence, and I could have been quicker to two. Where I left out some strides in the line, she made up for that with the ones she left out in that great turn she made. We were both on great horses, and it came down to who was going to do less strides everywhere, and she did less," she said. "I thought both horses jumped incredibly well today."

Aron explained the great turn to home. "Going around the right turn to the combination and then to the oxer I really saw the distances and flapped my arms and went for it," she said. "So that's probably where I made up the time."

Aron's trainer Laura Kraut, said that she knew Aimee had her work cut out for her. "I walked into the schooling area and told Aimee that I thought she'd have a tough time beating Brianne, because she was just so smooth," Kraut revealed. "But Aimee was just so fast from the end oxer back to the double, and that mare is just so quick across the jumps. Aimee's just such a natural talent. She's got such a great eye and a great feel for the horse," she said. "Jamaica is one of the fastest horses in the world, so when they're both on, they're pretty hard to beat."

Kraut said today's jump-off featured two of the nation's best young riders. "It's really, really special when you have two riders of that caliber. And when you do, it then usually comes down to the speed of the horse, and Jamaica's as fast as they come."

Aron was thrilled with the Washington win. "Laura and I were talking, and in the past, Washington hasn't been one of my most successful shows, so this was a really exciting win for me today," Aron said with a smile. "It was a great atmosphere in here today and having this class on Saturday afternoon before the Open Jumpers was a blast!"

Following the class, in addition to being a co-champion in the Junior Jumper Division, Aron was honored with the Junior Jumper Style of Riding Award, sponsored by Shalanno Farm.

The three way tie for Junior Jumper Champion was among Aron and Jamaica, Goutal and Onira and yesterday's winner, Henry Pfeiffer and Elton.

Results of Class 203 - Junior Jumper Senator's Cup Table II 2(a) - 2005 Washington International Horse Show - October 25-30 2005

2-438-Brianne Goutal ONIRA 0.00 /24.566

3-437-Clementine Goutal RASTELLA 0.00 /28.734

4-658-Aimee Aron RIA 56 4.00 /25.853

5-651-Evan M. Coluccio RANSOM 8.00 /24.101

6-719-Whitney Linders HEMMINGWAY 8.00 /25.660

7-486-Lauren Hester OXFORD 8.00 /25.765

8-300-Carolyn Kelly BLAST -1.00 63.564

9-671-Taryn Nolte LANCE - 4.00 56.497

10-436-Clementine Goutal LAURIN - 4.00 56.716

11-547-Henry Pfeiffer PRESTON - 4.00 58.112

12-706-Katie McDaniel QUASAR - 4.00 59.001

Hidden Creek's Alibi and Margie Engle Need No Excuses in the $20,000 International-Open Hit and Hurry

The Saturday afternoon crowd at the Washington International Horse Show was treated to an exciting speed competition following the Junior Jumpers as twenty starters took the field for the $20,000 International-Open Hit and Hurry.

In the class, scored under FEI Art. 267, riders received two points for every fence they jumped clean and one point for those they knocked down. They had 45 seconds to accumulate as many points as possible.

Twenty was the highest total the riders could amass within the forty-five seconds this afternoon and four riders managed to accomplish that feat. So, it came down to who could jump the next fence the fastest to stop the time.

Margie Engle and Hidden Creek's Alibi emerged as the winner, totaling 20 points and clocking in with the fastest time of 49.17 seconds.

Engle finished just fractions ahead of second place finisher Kent Farrington. Aboard Neo, Farrington tripped the timers in 49.40 seconds, just .23 seconds off the pace. A half a second behind Farrington in third place was yesterday's President's Cup Qualifier winner Chris Kappler. Kappler and Crazy Madam broke the beams in 49.99 seconds.

The main event on Saturday night, the $100,000 President's Cup, sponsored by Salamander Hospitality, LLC, will conclude this year's stellar International-Open Jumper competition at Washington.

Official Results of $20,000 International-Open Hit & Hurry -FEI Art. 267-2005 Washington International Horse Show-October 25-30 2005

1-418-Margie Engle USA-HC'S ALIBI 20 /49.17

2-481-Kent Farrington USA-NEO 20 /49.40

3-621-Chris Kappler USA-CRAZY MADAM 20 /49.99

4-393-Kim Farlinger CAN-LAFORZA 20 /50.78

5-710-Harry Smolders NED-VERELST QUEBEC 20 /51.98

6-99-Georgina Bloomberg USA-NADIA 19 /49.49

7-698-Candice S. King USA-PERFEKT 19 /50.84

8-396-Kelley Small CAN-BLACK ICE 19 /51.38

9-705-Laura Kraut USA-JOYOUS 18 /47.33

10-86-Judy Garofalo USA-HARLEM DE MESCAM 18 /49.10

11-483-Leslie Howard USA-ROLLING THUNDER 18 /49.19

12-317-Mary Lisa Leffler USA-KARTOUSCH 17 /46.78