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Laura Chapot and Little Big Man Go Clear Twice to Take the Win in the $75,000 RV Sales of Broward Grand Prix at HITS-on-the-Hudson....Lynndee Kemmet reports for PhelpsSports.com Saugerties, New York - July 23, 2006 - As the only clear round in the jump-off, Laura Chapot and Little Big Man earned the right to wear the blue ribbon in the $75,000 RV Sales of Broward Grand Prix at HITS-on-the-Hudson.

The pair bested a field of 30 competitors, only six of whom made it through the first round into the jump-off. Despite being an afternoon event in the dead of July, the weather was cloudy and cool. Jackets were the clothing of choice for spectators. Hence, riders couldn't claim their horses were weighed down by hot, muggy weather. Rather, it was simply a tough course designed by Olaf Petersen Jr., of Germany. Of the first 20 riders to go in round one, only McLain Ward, riding Halbi D'Ariane, went clear. "There were a lot of difficult parts to the course," Chapot said. "Olaf asked a lot of difficult questions right from the start. There was virtually no let-up. There was a tough triple combination early in the course and the last line was a bit of a heart-breaker for a lot of people. It required a very forward, steady ride and that plank at the last jump was a problem." The fight to finish in the money turned into a battle of speed as riders hit the gas after dropping the first rail. With so few going clear, a first round four-fault penalty wasn't enough to kick competitors out of the game. One after another riders raced through, many finishing well ahead of the allowed time of 87 seconds.

After dropping one rail, Eliza Ferguson-Shuford, of Hickory, North Carolina, and Larentino sped through with a time of 82.722 seconds. Right behind them came Addison Phillips, of New York City, and Trezebees, who, after dropping a rail, hit the gas and finished in 82.572 seconds. But their time was then beat by the pair following right behind - Margie Engle and Hidden Creek's Perin who made it through in 82.421 seconds with one rail down.

Chapot and Little Big Man, however, not only pulled in a super fast time in round one, but did it while keeping up all the rails. They finished in 80.538. Speed, said Chapot, of Neshanic Station, New Jersey, is what gets them over the fences.

"He likes a fast pace," she said of the 15.2-hand Little Big Man. "He's a small horse and he doesn't always jump so much from strength as from speed."

Chapot said the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood may be a little guy, "but he doesn't know it." What makes him so good, she said is that "he loves his job and he doesn't want to touch the jumps. He rides to win."

Chapot was second to go in the jump-off, right behind Ward and Halbi and she entered the ring feeling that to win, she'd have to turn Little Big Man lose.

"I knew there were a couple people behind me who are very, very fast riders and with quick, careful horses. So, I felt I really had to go for it."

With a time of 42.485, they didn't have the fastest finish in the jump-off, but they had the only clear round and it was within the allowed time of 64 seconds and in the end, that's all that mattered.

RESULTS - $75,000 RV Sales of Broward Grand Prix at HITS-on-the-Hudson

2 1228 ARMANI - Jeffery Welles - 0-4/41.354

3 596 ONIRA - Brianne Goutal - 0-4/42.181

4 1541 HALBI D'ARIANE - McLain Ward - 0-4/44.319

5 1209 CARLOS-BOY - Ken Berkley - 0-4/44.628

6 1109 HIDDEN CREEK'S QUERVO GOLD - Margie Engle - 0-4/47.872

7 1110 HIDDEN CREEK'S PERIN - Margie Engle - 4 - 82.421

8 236 TREZEBEES - Addison Phillips - 4 - 82.572

9 869 LARENTINO - Eliza Ferguson-Shuford - 4 - 82.722

10 478 COCU - Molly Ashe - 4 - 84.026

11 119 SAMANTHA - Laura Chapot - 8 - 81.651

12 874 CANTATE 26 - Eliza Ferguson-Shuford 8 - 84.008