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Articles: Press Release
Henrik Gundersen and Darvin Garbo Race Through the Jump-Off to Win
Thursday's $25,000 Grand Prix at HITS-on-the-Hudson V......Lynndee
Kemmet reports for PhelpsSports.com
Contact:
Kenneth Kraus of Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com
Saugerties, New York - July 27, 2006 - Henrik Gundersen and Darvin Garbo
raced through the jump-off course to take the win in the $25,000 Grand
Prix at HITS-on-the-Hudson V.
The pair beat out a field of 36, of which ten went clear in the first
round to qualify for the jump-off. Gundersen said the course, designed
by Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela, was just right for a Thursday
afternoon Grand Prix and he was not surprised that so many riders went
clear in the first round.
"There are a group of riders here who are very capable. But I think it's
right to set the course for the horses rather than for the riders. A
more difficult course is unfair to some horses that aren't as
experienced. It means that we'll have a few more horses in the jump-off,
but it also means the course won't scare the younger horses," he said.
Competitors lucked out with the weather. Thunderstorms could be heard
and seen all around the show grounds, but only the last three riders in
round one actually had to ride through a bit of rain - Darragh Kerins,
Eliza Shuford and Nona Garson. And the rain ended before the jump-off
began.
Of the ten who qualified for the jump-off, six finished with a clear
round, which meant that speed was the key to victory.
Gundersen and Darvin Garbo sailed through the course so rapidly that
they finished with the fastest time among all in the jump-off - those
who went clear and those who didn't. Their time of 39.99 was well ahead
of the allowed time of 58 seconds. The closest to them in time was
McLain Ward riding Sapphire. Ward finished the course in 40.18 seconds
but had a four-fault penalty.
Gundersen was seventh to go and entered the ring knowing three riders
had gone clear ahead of him, one of whom was Margie Engle. Her time
aboard Hidden Creek's Alibi, of 44.10, was the time to beat.
"Margie is always fast and I knew she had a time of 44. I also knew I
had Laura Chapot coming after me," Gundersen said. "So, basically, I
just went as fast and short as I could all the way around. Sometimes you
have a fault when you take chances, but today, everything came
together."
Both of the riders who followed Gundersen, Chapot on Samantha and Todd
Minikus on Pavarotti, went clear but couldn't catch Gundersen's time.
Chapot finished second and Minikus finished fifth behind Engle and
William Lowry riding Polygraaf.
Gundersen, originally from Denmark but now based in Wellington, Florida,
has been working with Darvin Garbo, a 10-year-old Danish Warmblood,
since the horse was six.
"He's a horse my father found when he was a five year old," Gundersen
said. "He's a good horse. I train him a lot on my horse treadmill that I
sell. It makes him very scopey and powerful off the ground."
RESULTS - $25,000 Grand Prix HITS Thursday Grand Prix
1 1607 DARVIN GARBO - Henrik Gundersen - 0-0/39.99
2 128 SAMANTHA - Laura Chapot - 0-0/42.55
3 1370 HIDDEN CREEK'S ALIBI - Margie Engle - 0-0/44.10
4 1423 POLYGRAAF - William Lowry - 0-0/44.26
5 793 PAVAROTTI - Todd Minikus - 0-0/45.51
6 69 INDY STAR II - Laura Bowery - 0-0/48.37
7 773 SAPPHIRE - McLain Ward - 0-4/40.18
8 538 SUMMER STORM - Amy Momrow - 0-4/42.31
9 245 MEMPHIS - Caitlyn Shiels - 0-4/46.74
10 891 GENESIS JUMPING SPORT - Simon Nizri - 0-12/44.345
11 772 LARIOSO - McLain Ward - 4/71.27
12 1643 TREZEBEES - Addison Phillips - 4/75.115
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