Lexington, KY - May 18, 2006 - Ottawa, Canada's Kelley Small won her first career Grand Prix on Thursday afternoon as she toppled veterans Aaron Vale and Debbie Stephens for the win in the $30,000 Lexington Classic, the second leg of the $170,000 Hagyard Jumper Series. The afternoon Johnson Arena feature at the Kentucky Spring Classic Horse Show was graced with gorgeous sunshine at the start, heavy rains, and near hurricane force winds during the latter part of the first round, and then bright sunshine again, all in the course of the two hour competition.

Thirty-eight starters went to the post for the 1p.m. event, scored under FEI Art. 238.2.2, Time First Jump-Off. Venezuela's Leopoldo Palacios is this week's Course Designer. Today's track proved troublesome for a majority of the competitors, as only three managed first round clears. Two riders came home with no jumping faults, but they were unable to clock in quick enough to beat the snug time allowed and each picked up a single time fault. Seventeen horse and rider combinations had four faults, some with additional time penalties. Six riders had two knockdowns. Ten duos had twelve or more or were eliminated.

Canada's Kelley Small, aboard Cimmaron Farms' Calibur, was the first to master the first round course from the seventh spot in the start order. Sixteen horses later, Debbie Stephens and her new partner All Star, owned by Daran Cohen, added their name to the dance card. The jump-off roster was filled out when Aaron Vale and Artur 28 from Millstream, Inc. became the third to qualify, three horses after Stephens.

Vale's first round was anything but a walk in the park. Shortly after the tone sounded to signal his start, the Kentucky skies turned from beautifully blue to ominously dark. As Vale reached the halfway point of the course, the quick hitting afternoon storm struck. Fierce winds ripped down a number of the jumps, including the jump that Vale was approaching. The judge's tone signaled a time out and the fences were reset as the winds died down. As Vale started another approach, a second burst of wind wreaked havoc once again. The course was reset, and Vale finally finished with a fault free round. To register his clear go, Vale spent nearly 8 minutes in the ring.

And just as quickly as the rain and wind appeared, the skies cleared and the sun was back for the timed tiebreaker.

In the speed round, Small returned first and came up big, producing her second clear round of the afternoon. Cruising home clear, she tripped the timers in 42.47 seconds.

As it would turn out, the clean round was all that Small needed for the win. Stephens and All Star had two rails down in the jump-off and crossed the finish line in 45.23 seconds. Vale, one of the nation's winningest riders, appeared primed to notch career win number 134 on Thursday, but Artur 28 caught a rail coming home, finishing with four faults in a time of 42.29 seconds.

Instead of Vale adding to his long list of accomplishments, it was twenty-one year old Kelley Small of Canada posting her first ever major class victory.

"I'm so excited," said a beaming Small following the victory gallop. "I have had Calibur for two years, and we've developed an unbelievable partnership. I've never won a grand prix ever, on any horse. So to win on Calibur, well, I'm just ecstatic. He tries so hard for me," she said. "I was fourth here Sunday, and I picked up a third in a $75,000 Grand Prix in California this winter. So I can't even say that I've come really close," she admitted. "Top four finishes aren't really close, so I'm just thrilled to finally get a win today."

Small talked about being one of only three clean in round one. "I know that Leopoldo [Palacios] is always a little bit tricky. He doesn't necessarily build really big, but I knew a couple of the tricks he had in there today because I've seen his courses before," Small related. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I knew the time allowed was going to be really tight. I have a little bit of a slow horse, so I tried to make sure I picked a nice track to get home within the time allowed and leave all the jumps up," she said.

Going first in the jump-off with two pros to follow had Small looking for a clean round first. "I was thinking that I had two very experienced, very fast riders coming behind me so I just wanted to make sure I had the most efficient track possible. You know those two are going to try their hardest, so I just tried to be clear and make them try to play a little bit of catch up," she said.

Vale, with a bead on the lead, had Small holding her breath. "I thought it was all over when Aaron was headed home. I knew he had my time. So I guess it was just my day!"

The next two events in the Hagyard Challenge Series are July 27 and August 3 at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show and the Kentucky Summer Classic Horse Show. The final event, the $50,000 CSI-W Lexington at the Kentucky National Indoor Horse Show on September 22, 2006, is a U.S. East Coast League World Cup Qualifier.

A full day of jumper action is on the agenda for Friday at the Kentucky Horse Park, including Junior and Amateur-Owner Jumpers. Saturday's schedule at the Kentucky Spring Horse Show features the $20,000 Bluegrass Classic, and Sunday's main event is the $50,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix, a member event of the (AGA) American Grand Prix Association.

Results Class 231 $30,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic-Kentucky Spring Classic-Johnson Arena -5/18/06

1 1123 KELLEY SMALL CAN CALIBUR 0.00 83.26 0.00 42.47

CIMMARON FARMS

2 548 AARON VALE USA ARTUR 28 0.00 84.02 4.00 42.29

MILLSTREAM INC

3 1427 DEBBIE STEPHENS USA ALL STAR 0.00 87.49 12.00 45.23

DARAN COHN

4 790 MARILYN LITTLE USA RARETE 1.00 88.32

RAYLYN FARMS

5 1002 CARA RAETHER USA U BLESCO 1.00 90.69

TRELAWNY FARM

6 1181 PABLO BARRIOS VEN SUN GOD 4.00 83.41

RON KRISE

7 1205 ROBIN SWEELY USA TINKA'S LAD 4.00 84.43

ACORN HILL FARM

8 1331 PETER LEONE USA ICON 4.00 84.64

LIONSHARE FARM

9 846 MARY LISA LEFFLER USA GERONA 92 4.00 85.01

ROLLING ACRES

10 1180 PABLO BARRIOS VEN WILD CAT 4.00 85.38

JUAN CARMONA

11 471 JIMMY TORANO USA ORMSBY HILL 4.00 85.87

TORANO AND SIR RULY INC

12 968 ROBERT KRAUT USA LIFE IS LIVE 4.00 86.42

POLLYRICH FARMS

Minikus and Elton's New Partnership Tops the Leader Board Once Again

Tracey Topping's horse Elton led the victory gallop in the 1.40m class once again this week with Todd Minikus in the irons. Minikus began riding Topping's mount last week and, after only knowing the horse for ten minutes, won the 1.40m class. Today was no different for the new horse and rider combination, as the duo competed over the Table III speed course in a time of 74.980 seconds. Second place was awarded to Mobile U, owned by Sagamore Farms and ridden by Aaron Vale. Vale finished with a time of 77.205 seconds. Third place went to Jonathan McCrea and Rioletto, who completed the course in 77.498 seconds. McCrea rode Rioletto for Candy Tribble and Windsor Show Stables from East Windsor, CT.

In the Walnut Arena's 1.35m class, Debbie Stephens and Melinga moved up in both fence height and placings from yesterday's 1.30m class. After taking home second place yesterday, Stephens and Melinga, owned by ADBF Inc of Miami, FL, captured the win over today's course, held under a Table II, Section 2(b) format.

"Melinga, what a fabulous horse she is!" exclaimed Stephens. "I'm so lucky to have her. I got her a couple of years ago as a six year old, and we went through the Young Jumper Championships Program. Then the people who owned her decided to give her a year off because they weren't sure what their son was going to do, and we just got her back in work about six weeks ago. I thought, 'Oh, This is a little quick.' But she hasn't had a rail down, knock on wood, and she's been in every class. Last week she did the 1.30m classes, and I just moved her up to the 1.35m class." Stephens added, "I love her. I just have to say, she is one competitive mare!"

Stephens and Melinga sailed through the finish timers in 29.806 seconds, beating Joe Fargis and Ingaletta's time of 32.624 by 2.8 seconds. Ingaletta finished second yesterday in the 1.35m as well and is owned by Sandron of Middleburg, VA. Third place went to Nicole Simpson and Intrepid D'Elle, owned by SCNC Investments of Miami Beach, FL.

The 1.30m class followed with 37 entries and was also held under a Table II, Section 2(b). Patty Stovel and Holy Ghost, owned by Providence Hill Farm in Jackson, MS, took top honors today with a speedy jump-off time of 32.057 seconds.

Carella and Joe Fargis, who took home third place in yesterday's class, moved up in the ranks for a second place finish today. Carella, also owned by Sandron, completed a fault free jump-off with a close time of 32.591 seconds. Jonathan McCrea and Miss Blue, owned by Candy Tribble and Windsor Show Stables, finished in third place, tripping the jump-off timers in 33.722 seconds.

The Walnut Ring continues with jumper divisions tomorrow for Open Jumpers, Low Juniors and Low Amateur Owners.

Results of Class 227 $5,000 Open Jumper 1.40m Table III - Kentucky Spring Classic - Johnson Arena - 5/18/06

1 992 TODD MINIKUS ELTON 0.00 0.00 74.980 74.980

TRACEY TOPPING

2 1519 AARON VALE MOBILE U 0.00 0.00 77.205 77.205

SAGAMORE FARMS

3 1075 JONATHAN MCCREA RIOLETTO 0.00 0.00 77.498 77.498

CANDY TRIBBLE & WINDSOR S

4 1208 ROBIN SWEELY CARLOW CLOVER 0.00 0.00 78.008 78.008

ACORN HILL FARM

5 1050 SHANE SWEETNAM RAPIER VANT SCHUURKE 0.00 0.00 78.241 78.241

HELEN VARBLE & SHANE SWEE

6 1466 AARON VALE OLIVIER 0.00 0.00 79.099 79.099

PINECROFT LLC

7 550 AARON VALE SERVAL 4.00 0.00 76.489 80.489

SERVAL GROUP

8 1184 PABLO BARRIOS NICE TO SEE YOU 4.00 0.00 76.549 80.549

PABLO BARRIOS

9 1065 SCOTT LENKART IMPULSIVE 0.00 0.00 80.902 80.902

BENNETT SPORT HORSE

10 96 DAVID BEISEL IRISH HUNT 4.00 0.00 83.030 87.030

CARLIE BEISEL

11 906 STEVE SCHAEFER WINCHESTER 4.00 0.00 83.478 87.478

STEVE SCHAEFER

12 190 DEREK BRAUN QUIK 4.00 0.00 86.028 90.028

SPLIT ROCK FARM

Results of Class 223 Open Jumper 1.35m Table II, Sec 2(b0 - Kentucky Spring Classic - Walnut Ring - 5-18-06

1 1391 DEBBIE STEPHENS MELINGA 0.00 73.328 0.00 29.806 $350

ADBF INC

2 881 JOE FARGIS INGALETTA 0.00 76.767 0.00 32.624 $250

SANDRON

3 468 NICOLE SIMPSON INTREPID D'ELLE 0.00 75.505 0.00 33.520 $200

SCNC INVESTMENTS

4 469 JIMMY TORANO PANDOER 0.00 74.304 4.00 29.131 $150

DANIELLE TORANO AND JIMMY

5 1078 J MCCREA QUICK SON 0.00 74.936 4.00 30.209 $125

CANDY TRIBBLE & WINDSOR S

6 1478 JIMMY TORANO SIR NEEL 6.00 80.283 $100

DANIELLE TORANO AND JIMMY

7 97 DAVID BEISEL ECSTACY 8.00 69.218 $100

TANIA LENHLMANN

8 1159 DARREN FINKLEMAN CALLISTUS 10.00 84.213 $75

HIDDEN TRAIL FARM

9 373 RORY GRANT DUNCAN 37 20.00 76.479 $75

BETSY GREEN

T10 1080 DAVE DORNER SUMMERHILL elim. $37

SARA KEMPER

T10 1204 TODD MINIKUS LUCKY SOLITAIRE elim. $37

ACORN HILL FARM

Results of Class 220 - Open Jumper 1.30m Table II, Sec 2(b) - Kentucky Spring Classic - Walnut Ring - 5/18/06

1 770 PATTY STOVEL HOLY GHOST 0.00 61.098 0.00 32.057 $300

PROVIDENCE HILL FARM

2 879 JOE FARGIS CARELLA 0.00 63.613 0.00 32.591 $200

SANDRON

3 1074 JONATHAN MCCREA MISS BLUE 0.00 59.878 0.00 33.722 $150

CANDY TRIBBLE & WINDSOR S

4 890 JOE FARGIS MARIA BONITA 0.00 64.750 0.00 33.826 $125

MARY B. SCHWAB AND O.E.J.

5 852 MARY LISA LEFFLER KARTOUSCH 0.00 63.760 0.00 35.269 $100

ROLLING ACRES

6 948 LAURA STEFFEE GAMBLER 0.00 63.840 0.00 36.868 $70

SIERRA DEL SOL INVESTMENT

7 552 ALEJANDRO CESPEDES HIBISCUS II 0.00 59.023 0.00 37.031 $65

DANIELA'S STABLES

8 1549 LISA JACQUIN CHUCK 0.00 59.281 0.00 38.670 $60

JACQULINE SHEARER

9 425 LINDA RADIGAN REALIST 0.00 62.700 0.00 41.203 $55

LINDA RADIGAN

10 163 RUSH WEEDEN ROCKY 0.00 63.825 4.00 33.800

AMANDA WILLIAMSON

11 1094 NIALL GRIMES SPECIAL VERDICT 0.00 58.894 4.00 36.347

M/M JOHN TREDENNICK & WOO

12 885 RACHEL MIKRUT FERNANDO 0.00 59.384 4.00 36.974

RACHEL MIKRUT

FOR COMPLETE RESULTS FROM THE KENTUCKY SPRING HORSE SHOWS GO TO: www.kentuckyhorseshows.com