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Wellington, FL - January 26, 2007 - Divided into two sections, the Acorn Hill Farm Challenge turned Friday at the WEF/PBIEC Inaugural into Ladies' Day, with victories going to 18-year-old Brianne Goutal, a rookie in her first senior Grand Prix season, and seasoned campaigner, Beezie Madden.

The 1.40m Acorn Hill Farm Challenge counts towards the NAL Open Speed Series, awarded to the horse who has earned the most prize money in this class during the Winter Equestrian Festival, with the award being presented during the Budweiser American Invitational on Saturday, April 7, in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium.

Section A, with 46 starters, proved to be a tough challenge, and the 86-second time limit was certainly a factor from the outset. Although the ground had dried out considerably after yesterday's drizzle, a few of the early starters were not risking the very tight corners and several seriously challenging roll-backs at top speed.

Laura Kraut was, in fact, the first to go clear riding Olympia, maintaining a steady pace throughout the course, and her 73.65 seconds was good enough for fifth place in the final reckoning. Never lacking determination and a useful turn of speed, Canadian Mario Deslauriers lit The Duke of Somerset's blue touch paper as they crossed the start line and the pair streaked around. Although they stole the early lead from Kraut, a slight hesitation in the double combination (4a/b) would prove costly when Kraut returned to the ring with Nocturnal for her second tour.

In the meantime, Aimee Aron, the 18-year-old from Keswick, VA, gave Killigrews Attraction a blue chip ride, as they bounced around the course making light work of some imposing obstacles. Although the oxer at fence 8, directly below the jury box had claimed a number of scalps, Aron breezed down that straight line, which included a second double combination of oxers at 9a/b and barely missed a beat as she negotiated the final three without touching a rail to finish with 71.34 seconds.

It was a lead that appeared to be invincible, had it not been for the big guns that entered the starting gate towards the end of the draw. With Nocturnal, Laura Kraut put her first round knowledge to good use and the nine-year-old enthusiastically responded, producing a beautifully well-balanced performance - although it was insufficient to overhaul Aron's time.

There was no doubting Beezie Madden's intentions with the very experienced Conquest II, who despite being sidelined for the whole year in 2005, returned to competition last summer, and now appears to be fresher than ever for his 16 years. The pair gave a textbook performance of speed riding, shaving the corners of every turn and eating up the ground down the straight lines, and the dreamlike quality of this round can best be illustrated by the nearly seven-second advantage she achieved over Aron's time: 64.59 to 71.34.

It was a remarkable win, and a delighted Madden said, "He doesn't have all the power in the world, so he likes a little speed. He's been doing mostly speed classes now during the last two or three years of his career and really likes it. He really doesn't like it at all when I school him and make him go slow."

She continued by explaining her plans for Conquest during WEF: "As he's 16 now he'll have one week off, then we'll show again because the footing is the best at the beginning of the circuit. After that, I'll probably wait and show him during the last two weeks when it's the most money." Madden explained that despite yesterday's rain which cut up the take-off and landing areas, "It feels good - banged up a little, but is good to jump on."

Section B, contested by 43 starters, had the benefit of a morning of sunshine and rising temperatures after yesterday's extremely chilly conditions, and there were noticeably fewer horses slipping and sliding around the corners. The course was shorter by 30 meters over Section A, and with a reduced time limit of 81 seconds.

Among the early leaders, Todd Minikus, from neighboring Loxahatchee quickly launched Alaska into his bouncy stride and they scorched around the course, stopping the clock in 68.48 seconds - throwing down the gauntlet for the many classy combinations to follow. However, two horses later, it was newcomer to the major circuit Brianne Goutal and Mon Gamin who pulled out all the stops and produced an invincible performance. Despite his blue-blooded pedigree - by the Olympian Bon Ami, who jumped to fame during the nineties for Belgium with the late Eric Wauters - Mon Gamin has the appearance and character of a pony. But what he lacks in power and the ground-covering stride of a typical European warmblood, he makes up with exuberance and heart.

In fact, Goutal confessed that everyone laughed when she said she'd decided to enter Mon Gamin, whom her family purchased as a six-year-old in a 1.40m class, when his apparent limit had previously been around 1.30m or 1.35m. "Basically, that's the highest the horse has jumped in quite a long time. I've had him for a couple of years now, but we gave him to my little sister who did low juniors, and I just got him back last year, so he's only just coming back. Clementine won a couple of classes with him in low junior jumpers, and I took him in those classes for a while, and we've only just moved him back up."

With maturity far exceeding her years, Goutal candidly admitted that she wasn't really aware of who had preceded her in the ring, and who was following, in terms of the big names. "The plan was to try and win, but he was all discombobulated before we went because I was in a different ring, my trainer was in another ring, so I didn't know who had gone and what there times had been."

"When I walked the course it was a pretty good course for him. He's not a Grand Prix horse by any means so you give him a running start and he gets on the job. When you get going and have a good gallop he's very honest, so you try and look for ways to maybe not make that tight a turn, but to go fast on the wider turns. He can turn very tight, but he wins classes on long gallops and long approaches because he's so careful."

In terms of Goutal's plans for him for the remainder of WEF: "He's going to alternate between the Acorn Hill classes and the meter thirties to keep his confidence. He'll win every time if he's confident, but unless you keep his confidence level high, there's no point in scaring him at all." She concluded by saying, "That was a big deal today, especially for that horse. Everybody made fun of me for wanting to show him in the 1.40m, but he's the best horse ever."

Section A: High Junior Jumper - Sponsored by Animal Planet

Earlier, in the junior jumper section for riders who have not yet reached their 18th birthday, Ali Wolff jumped to victory riding Hertel Landman owned by Blacklick Bend Farm. Wolff was, in fact, the only rider to maintain a clean slate over the two rounds, of this power and speed class that saw only four riders progress to the second phase. Addison Phillips finished second with her own Wokina, ahead of Aimee Aron and Ria 56. The fourth combination, Catie Boone and Naleida, were eliminated for refusals.

1 76 CONQUEST II BEEZIE MADDEN 0.00 64.594 $1850 KATHLEEN PATTON

2 1947 KILLIGREWS ATTRACTION AIMEE ARON 0.00 71.348 $1200 KINLOCH ENT.

3 1317 NOCTURNAL LAURA KRAUT 0.00 72.849 $635 PIN OAK FARM

4 1514 THE DUKE OF SOMERSET MARIO DESLAURIERS 0.00 72.897 $400 MAPLE HILL FARM

5 1316 OLYMPIA LAURA KRAUT 0.00 73.650 $325 PANIC PARTNERS

6 3168 DARIOS V MARK SAMUEL 0.00 75.198 $275 CHADBURN HOLDINGS

7 555 CANDYMAN LISA JACQUIN 0.00 77.041 $275 FLINTWOODE FARMS

8 470 CINDY 247 JUDY GAROFALO TORRES 0.00 79.086 $250 JUDY GAROFALO TORRES

9 625 DISCOVERY ROBIN SWEELY 0.00 81.043 $250 ACORN HILL FARM

10 3058 HIDDEN CREEK'S PASADENA MICHAEL MORRISSEY 0.00 81.731 $180 EUGENE R. MISCHE

11 755 ONTARIO JONATHAN MCCREA 0.00 83.469 $180 CANDY TRIBBLE

12 352 OTTALINE JOSE REGA 0.00 84.035 $180 PEPPERCORN LTD.

Rank Num Horse Name NAT Faults Time Results of Class 1005B - 1.40m Acorn Hill Farm Challenge B, II, 1 - WEF/PBIEC Inaugural January 25, 2007

1 283 MON GAMIN BRIANNE GOUTAL 0.00 68.387 $1850 CLOVERLEAF FARM

2 774 ALASKA TODD MINIKUS 0.00 68.484 $1200 CALLIE SEAMAN

3 556 OBOURG LISA JACQUIN 0.00 69.695 $635 FLINTWOODE FARMS

4 1651 ROMANOV JONATHON MILLAR 0.00 70.845 $400 MILLAR BROOKE FARM

5 2284 CINDERELLA ELLEN HOLTGERS 0.00 70.890 $325 GUT EINHAUS

6 1315 CEDRIC LAURA KRAUT 0.00 71.422 $275 K & H ENTERPRISES

7 1318 LE PRESTIGE ST LOIS LAURA KRAUT 0.00 74.110 $275 FREEDOM GROUP

8 159 RODOS LAUREN HOUGH 0.00 77.841 $250 VICTORIA D'AGOSTINO

9 713 LORD G CARA RAETHER 0.00 78.287 $250 TRELAWNY FARM

10 503 NIGHT TRAIN DARRAGH KERINS 0.00 78.721 $180 DOUBLE H FARM

11 2732 HIDDEN CREEK'S CALIPPO 12 MARGIE ENGLE 4.00 67.501 $180 HIDDEN CREEK FARM

12 1536 CATWALK DARRIN DLIN 4.00 69.628 $180 ODYSSEY VENTURE LL

Results of Class 1061 - High Junior Jumper, II 2c - WEF/PBIEC Inaugural -January 26, 2007

1 2837 HERTEL LANDMAN ALI WOLFF 0.00 1.000 0.00 34.775 $700 BLACKLICK BEND FARM

2 2553 WOKINA ADDISON PHILLIPS 0.00 43.543 4.00 35.764 $420 ADDISON PHILLIPS

3 1944 RIA 56 AIMEE ARON 0.00 44.491 9.00 56.358 $320 JANICE COOK ARON

4 2143 NALEIDA CATIE BOONE 0.00 47.392 elim. $210 CATIE BOONE

5 1285 PEDRO MAGGIE MCALARY 4.00 43.544 $150 BEAVER BROOK PONIE

6 549 REVELIN LAUREN PATAVA 4.00 46.455 $110 LAUREN PATAVA

7 2838 RESIDENZ ALI WOLFF 5.00 57.935 $110 BLACKLICK BEND FARM

8 2559 REGINA V ADDISON PHILLIPS 8.00 43.919 $100 ADDISON PHILLIPS

9 2090 IVRESSE JULIANNA FISCHER 8.00 44.784 $95 JULIANNA FISCHER

10 3161 SPECIAL VERDICT SARAH TREDENNICK 8.00 45.757 $95 JOHN TREDENNICK

11 2658 EDWARD HIMSELF AMELIA MCARDLE 8.00 47.609 $95 MICHELLE KAMINE

12 393 KENZO DESFI NICK DELLO JOIO 8.00 48.564 $95 WEMBLEY FARM