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Lexington, KY - May 9, 2008 - Show jumping excitement continued today at the Kentucky Spring Horse Show, and the highlight in the Sheila C. Johnson Arena was the $5,000 1.40m Open Jumper Table III, Faults Converted, class. Aaron Vale piloted Danacar to first place after he perfected Richard Jeffery's course. Vale, who resides in Ocala, FL, showed Danacar for Joe Fargis and Hidden Trail Farm of The Plains, VA. 

The track, which consisted of 13 jumping efforts, included a large grass bank, which horses had to gallop up to approach fence 5, a vertical. Additionally, the course included an option for fence 10, and both choices jumped the horses onto the small table bank toward fence 11, where they jumped off. 

Vale and Danacar executed an amazing ride, with tight turns, a fast gallop, and a well-planned route. The pair, who went third in the order, captured the lead early and held onto it for the overall win. Margie Engle, who went first aboard Hidden Creek's Calippo, had a fast round with her horse, and she came home in 70.498 seconds. Vale's time of 69.989 seconds edged Engle into second place, and she remained in that position throughout the class, receiving the red ribbon. Engle resides in Wellington, FL, and rode Calippo for Hidden Creek Farm of Oak Creek, WI.

"Danacar is a new mount for me," explained Vale. "I just started riding him on Tuesday; He's a very nice horse. He won the 1.35m class the first day. Then today it was our first time in the Johnson ring, and he won the speed. The class was a nice introduction to tomorrow's speed derby," he said. "We caught a couple of banks and had the liverpool in there, so it was definitely a course that got us ready for the derby. He handled all of the natural stuff quite well, and we're ready for tomorrow."

Vale discussed the course and its challenges. "The course was good," he stated. "We had an unusual route up the tall bank today, which kind of seemed to throw some of the horses. A lot of the horses really paused before they went up the grass hill because it looked a little different to them. Danacar hesitated like some of the others, but he went right up and jumped the vertical on top of the bank quite well." 

Vale will compete with Danacar in the $15,000 Bluegrass Derby tomorrow morning in the Johnson Arena.

Course Designer Richard Jeffery, who resides in Bournemouth, England, designed today's speed course with tomorrow's derby in mind. "The class is practice for the derby tomorrow," he said. "Normally this class is held on Thursday, but it was held today because of the rain. I tried to introduce the bank elements so the horses had a little time to practice them."

Despite yesterday's thunderstorm and the soggy conditions, Jeffery was relieved to see how well the footing held up in the Johnson Arena. "The footing held up perfectly," he stated. "We didn't even have to do any repairs to it. I didn't see a horse slip. We hadn't had much rain here in the last week or so, and I think it was a little bit on the hard side. We had actually watered the small bank on Wednesday evening because we were concerned it was a bit too hard, so I actually think the rain helped the footing."

Earlier that morning, the 1.45m Table II.2(b) Open Jumper class was held in the Sheila C. Johnson Arena. Jimmy Torano of Fort Lauderdale, FL, triumphed for the win with his mount Caldam'Or, owned by SCNC Investments.

Twenty-one riders competed in the 1.45m class, and only five riders jumped the first round without fault. Kevin Babington of Gwynedd Valley, PA, and Esquilino Bay finished in second place, and Christine McCrea guided Twisther to third with the only other double clear round. Twisther is owned by Windsor Show Stables of East Windsor, CT. Leo Paoli of Caracas, Venezuela, and Remonta Escaupil took fourth after they lowered the height of one fence, and Ramiro Quintana pinned fifth with Cataro Ask, owned by the Cataro Group of Wellington, FL.

The Kentucky Spring Horse Show continues at the Kentucky Horse Park tomorrow, and the $15,000 Bluegrass Derby will begin at 11:00 a.m. The Junior and Amateur-Owner Classics will be held on Sunday prior to the $55,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix. The Kentucky Spring Classic will be held next week from May14-18, and highlights include the $30,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic Grand Prix, the $20,00 Bluegrass Classic, and the $55,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix CSI 3*.

For more information on the Kentucky Spring Horse Show, please go to www.kentuckyhorseshows.com.

Results of Class 227 1.40 OPEN JUMPER SPEEDNum Horse Name NAT Jump Faults
1 902 DANACAR AARON VALE 0.00 0.00 69.989 69.989
Hidden Trail Farm
2 1206 HIDDEN CREEK'S CALIPPO 1 MARGIE ENGLE USA 0.00 0.00 70.498 70.498
HIDDEN CREEK FARM
3 337 POURQUOI ALISON ROBITAILLE USA 0.00 0.00 70.911 70.911
M/M BERTRAM FIRESTONE
4 1172 MAGIC CRUISE JIMMY TORANO USA 0.00 0.00 71.113 71.113
SCNC INVESTMENTS
5 661 UNDINE SCHUYLER RILEY USA 0.00 0.00 72.709 72.709
TURTLE HALL FARM PARTNERS
6 465 ELECTRIC AARON VALE USA 0.00 0.00 74.134 74.134
ABC 4 HORSES
7 763 CYPRIA 6 ANDREW WELLES USA 0.00 0.00 76.517 76.517
PETER WELLES
8 1229 UNICUM JULIE WELLES USA 4.00 0.00 73.991 77.991
LAUREN HOUGH INC.
9 390 CARLOW CLOVER ROBIN SWEELY USA 0.00 0.00 79.695 79.695
ACORN HILL FARM
10 603 RICHYDOU RICHARD MCGRATH USA 4.00 0.00 76.892 80.892
CENTRAL PA EQUESTRIAN CEN
11 1312 HOUSTON SHANE SWEETNAM USA 8.00 0.00 74.435 82.435
CASEY CURTIS
12 1326 JULIA DU BRIO AMANDA KNOWLES CAN 4.00 0.00 78.473 82.473
BAYSHORE FARMS

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