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Articles: Press Release
Federico Sztyrle and Lorena 90 Are Only Clear Round to Win 1.50m Jumper
Classic at Winter Equestrian Festival
Natalie Johnson and Crocket 16 Outrace 17 in Jump-off for Victory in
Show Jumping Hall of Fame Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic
Photo Credit: Lorena 90 and Federico Sztyrle, winners of the $20,000
1.50m Jumper Classic at the Winter Equestrian Festival. Photo (c) 2007
Peter Llewellyn/PMG Pictures.
Contact:
Jennifer Wood of
Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at info@phelpsmediagroup.com
Wellington, FL - February 17, 2007 - In today's jumper competition in
the Kilkenny Internationale, CSI 3* at the Winter Equestrian Festival
(WEF), the amateur jumpers sponsored by Prestige took center stage in
the Internationale Arena, followed by the 1.50m Jumper Classic. Natalie
Johnson and Crocket 16 beat a field of 17 other competitors in the
jump-off to win the Show Jumping Hall of Fame (SJHOF) High Amateur-Owner
Jumper Classic. On the other end of the spectrum, Federico Sztyrle (ARG)
and Lorena 90, owned by Christian Wolffer, were the only clear round to
lead the victory gallop in the $20,000 1.50m Jumper Classic.
The course designer for this week in the Internationale Arena is Olaf
Petersen of Germany. Petersen set an imposing course today for the 1.50m
Jumper Classic. The most difficult element came at fence five, which was
a triple combination consisting of a triple bar in two strides to a tall
plank vertical in one stride to a wide oxer. The combination caught many
horses struggling to clear the "c" portion. Directly after the
combination came the open water. Another careful two stride later in the
course brought faults for many. Sztyrle was the only clear, while eight
riders had four faults and one rider had four jumping and one time
faults. The balance of the class (36 competitors) had eight faults or
more.
Twenty-six trips into the class, Laura Kraut and Anthem had a clear
round going until the final oxer on course, which came down for four
faults when Anthem touched the rail with his hind feet. They finished in
a time of 79.566 seconds, and they received third place.
Perhaps bolstered by Kraut's near-clear performance, Sztyrle and Lorena
90 entered the ring next. The mare was careful through the triple, had
no trouble with the water and galloped around the rest of the course.
They finished clear in a time of 82.085 seconds.
A handful of riders to follow Sztyrle just missed making a jump-off. Joe
Fargis and Edgar 12 had fence 11 down, a tall vertical set after the two
stride combination. They had four faults in a time of 79.921 seconds,
which put them in fourth place.
Molly Ashe and Lutopia had a bogey rail at fence three, after which Ashe
turned on the rocket boosters. Knowing there was only one clear and one
rider to follow her, Ashe flew around the rest of the course. They
stopped the timers in 76.950 seconds, which left them in second place
with the fastest four-fault round.
The final competitor in the ring was Paige Johnson with Kadena R. They
had two rails for eight faults, which ended the chance for a jump-off in
the class.
"I just decided to show today because my horse was not that fit,"
Sztyrle admitted after the class. "I didn't show the past two weeks."
About the course he described, "The course was tough. You really had to
work a lot. It was very technical. You had to be very, very precise in
every line."
Sztyrle was very surprised that he was the only clear round, but very
happy that he did not have to jump off. "It's fun to win like that," he
said with a smile. He has ridden the ten-year-old mare since July of
2006. "I thought she was ready to do it, and today was so much fun. She
really, really tries. She's very careful and fast. She really fights and
wants to be clear. I love her."
The winner of today's SJHOF High Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic almost
missed her chance to show. Natalie Johnson, a student at New York
University, had planned to fly to Florida earlier this week but with all
flights cancelled out of the city, Johnson had to make other plans. With
the help of fellow Heritage Farm rider Murray Kessler, Johnson found a
ride on a plane down to Florida. They showed in the 1.40m class
yesterday to warm up and then competed this morning.
Johnson went 57th in the 59 horse class. In the jump-off, she went 17th
out of 18 and was chasing the time of 43.362 seconds set by Leo Paoli of
Venezuela on Remonta Escaupil. Johnson raced around the course and
Crocket 16 had no trouble with the turns and long gallops. They crossed
the timers in 41.188 seconds and no faults.
"My horse felt amazing. I just went in and cantered around," she
remarked. When asked where she made up time on the jump-off course,
Johnson replied, "In that first line I did eight instead of nine, and I
think that made up a lot of time. My horse is a real easy turner, so
while he really doesn't look like he's going that fast, he lands and
turns beautifully. I end up making up time with fewer strides and
shorter turns. He's pretty easy because once you put him in a gallop he
doesn't stop, you just keep going. The jumps came up perfectly, and it
worked out well."
Johnson has had success with Crocket 16, including the team gold medal
and individual bronze medal at last year's North American Young Rider
Championships. However, this was her first win in a SJHOF class at WEF
and her first high jumper division championship. "It feels really good.
I've always wanted to win one of these. I've been second so many times,
it's nice to post the win," she said.
Jumper action wraps up tomorrow with the highlight event, the $60,000
Kilkenny Internationale Cup, CSI 3* on the main field at 2 p.m. The
SJHOF High Junior Jumper Classic will start the morning at 9 a.m.
Results of CLASS 1001 - 1.50m CLASSIC - Kilkenny Internationale -
February 17, 2007
T/A: 86.00 T/A: 60.00
1 1017 LORENA 90 FEDERICO SZTYRLE 0.00 82.085
CHRISTIAN WOLFFER
2 595 LUTOPIA MOLLY ASHE 4.00 76.950
JANE F. CLARK
3 3531 ANTHEM LAURA KRAUT 4.00 79.566
SUMMIT SYNDICATE
4 1467 EDGAR 12 JOE FARGIS 4.00 79.921
MARY B. SCHWAB
5 661 RULANDA CAROLYN KELLY 4.00 80.624
LULU EQUESTRN ENT
6 1233 NARCOTIQUE DE MUZE II ERIC LAMAZE 4.00 81.045
ASHLAND STABLES
7 2940 RANVILLE FRANKIE CHESLER ORTI 4.00 81.397
SHER AL FARM
8 2832 QUIDAM JUNIOR SHANE SWEETNAM 4.00 81.580
SHANE SWEETNAM
9 2284 CINDERELLA ELLEN HOLTGERS 4.00 81.770
GUT EINHAUS
10 1330 CANTERO Z AINSLEY VINCE 5.00 86.923
IRON HORSE FARM
11 1719 YOUP LESLIE HOWARD 8.00 77.461
S'BLIEFT GROUP
12 946 COURAGE CANDICE KING 8.00 79.253
ESPERANZA INC.
Results of CLASS 1025 - SJHOF AO JUMPER CLASSIC - Kilkenny
Internationale - February 17, 2007
T/A: 86.00 T/A: 55.00
1 2547 CROCKET 16 NATALIE JOHNSON 0.00 79.329 0.00 41.288
NATALIE JOHNSON
2 530 REMONTA ESCAUPIL LEO PAOLI 0.00 81.680 0.00 43.362
LEO PAOLI
3 764 SALSA GABBY SLOME 0.00 79.345 0.00 43.683
GABBY SLOME
4 1572 QUINCY B HILLARY DOBBS 0.00 79.606 0.00 44.011
HILLARY DOBBS
5 397 JACKSON ASHLEY BAKER 0.00 82.535 0.00 44.509
ASHLEY BAKER
6 1473 CROMWELL TRACEY WEINBERG 0.00 82.554 0.00 45.245
TRACEY WEINBERG
7 1845 LAMALUSHI CLARA LINDNER 0.00 81.986 0.00 45.603
ALL SEASONS FARM
8 1474 LINDA Z TRACEY WEINBERG 0.00 82.054 4.00 42.320
TRACEY WEINBERG
9 1511 ARDECHE VAN DEZELM LISA SILVERMAN 0.00 81.208 4.00 43.166
LISA SILVERMAN
10 722 MADONNA KATHERINE MIRACLE 0.00 80.858 4.00 43.193
OVERLOOK FARM INC.
11 1475 LARONE TRACEY WEINBERG 0.00 79.518 4.00 43.471
TRACEY WEINBERG
12 302 U-2 MARLEY GOODMAN 0.00 78.491 4.00 44.717
MARLEY GOODMAN
13 2618 KING CARA CHESKA 0.00 82.431 4.00 44.891
DONALD CHESKA
14 1228 UNCLE SAM ASHLEY FLEISCHHACKER 0.00 81.490 4.00 47.184
ASHLAND STABLES
15 701 SUBLIEM WHITNEY WEEKS 0.00 78.545 8.00 42.524
WHITNEY WEEKS
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