Articles: Press Release

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Jennifer Wood of Phelps Media Group, Inc.
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Wayne, IL - June 9, 2009 - It was "Derby Day" at the Showplace Spring Spectacular, and the festivities were the perfect way to start off the second big week of the horse show, which runs through Sunday, June 14, at the Lamplight Equestrian Center. Maggie Jayne of Elgin, IL, piloted Early Applause, owned by Pony Lane Farm, to the win in the $15,000 Chronicle of the Horse USHJA International Hunter Derby sponsored by Woodrun Farm. Earning their second win in a row at the show, Anna Banks of Wheaton, IL, and Jubulent were victorious in the $5,000 Junior/Amateur Jumper Speed Derby, sponsored by The Hope Family.

There were 37 horses in today's hunter derby, and the interesting and intricate course was designed by Skip Bailey. All of the riders in today's derby classes received gift bags from the "Back the Bid" committee. The committee is supporting the bid for Chicago to host the 2016 Olympic Games. More information can be found at www.Chicago2016.org.

The first round consisted of 12 jumps, and it included a square of post and rails, where horses had to jump in and out in two strides. Back the Bid ribbons The winner of the opening hunter round with a score of 182 was Upshot, ridden by Kelley Farmer for Jane Gaston. Early Applause and Jayne were close behind with a 177, and Sugar Boy with Tammy Provost was third with a 175.

The top 12 horses from the first round were invited back to compete in the handy hunter round. Riders were asked to make efficient turns, trot a jump, and hand gallop the final oxer through the course. The first to return with a score of 149 from the first round was Langley, ridden by Freddie Vasquez and owned by Jodi Vasquez. A miscommunication at the final jump resulted in a fall, and they were not scored for the second round. They ended up in 12th place overall.

Vasquez had the next horse as well, Lazaro, owned by Karlie Slowiak. They added a score of 147 to a first round score of 152.5 to finish with 299.5 for sixth place. Maria Rasmussen and Aalsmeer Farm's U Pearl Harbor had a score of 140 in the second round, and when added to their first round score of 156, they came up with 296 for seventh place.

Kelsey Thatcher and Raven, owned by Missy Clark and North Run, made the biggest jump up in the results. They scored a 159 in the first round and a great second round score of 164 to finish with 323 and received third place in the competition. They came into the second round sitting in 9th place.

Vasquez and his final mount, Orame, owned by Kira Telford, ended up with a final score of 241 for 11th place. Kelley Farmer and her first horse, Elizabeth Towell Boyd's Content, finished in eighth place with two scores of 162 and 131 for a total of 293. Maggie Jayne rode Capone for Pony Lane Farm and finished in 10th place with a total of 261. Tammy Provost and Alliy Moyer's Almost Majic were ninth with 265 points.

Thatcher had a solid second round with her horse Gianni. They scored 139, and when added to their first round score of 169, finished with 308 for fifth place. Provost and Sugar Boy, owned by Provost and Wendy Hofmeister, dropped one spot to fourth place with a score of 148 in the second round. Added to 175 from the first round, they finished with 323 points. Although they were tied with Thatcher and Raven, the first judges position's score was the tiebreaker. Raven had the higher score from that judges position and finished above Sugar Boy and Provost.

Early Applause and Maggie Jayne

It was all down to the final two riders in the class. There was only five points difference between their first round scores, and both would have to show handiness and impress the judges for the win.

Jayne and Early Applause (above) did just that. Jayne made smooth inside turns with Early Applause, who jumped beautifully over the big oxers throughout the course. They had a great gallop to the final jump, and the judges rewarded them with scores of 90 and 85, with 10 bonus points. Added to their first round score of 177, they finished with a total of 362, well ahead of the next finisher.

Farmer and Upshot came into the second round with a score of 182. Farmer went around in a turn to jump 6, and kept a conservative pace throughout the course. Upshot gave a great effort at every fence, and they had a nice gallop to the last oxer. However, it was not quite enough in the final scoring. With bonus points, they scored a 90 and 88, and when added to their first round of 182, it was just two points shy of the win. They finished with a total score of 360.

This was Jayne's fourth competition with the seven-year-old Early Applause and their second hunter derby class together. The pair started out their career with great success by winning the championship in the Green Conformation Hunters at the Devon Horse Show. They placed well at the hunter derby there, and Jayne was very pleased with the horse's performance today.

The hunter derby was held in the Grand Prix Ring, so Jayne felt that Early Applause adjusted very well to the change in scenery and jumps. "It's just such a different feeling out there," she mentioned. "He handled it fine. In the second round, we had both taken a breath and he was a lot better."

For Jayne, making tight turns usually means doing them with a lot of speed. She was second in last week's $30,000 grand prix class, so it was also an adjustment for her in today's competition. "I was super handy in the second round at Devon, and I didn't do it very smoothly. Here I was just trying to be smooth. It's hard for me to be handy and go slow. I think I'm getting the hang of it!" she said.

Jayne also thinks that having a horse like Early Applause makes her learning curve that much shorter. "He's so scopey; he turns the corner and just pops off the ground, no matter where you are. It's an amazing feeling. You can't teach a horse that; it's all natural. That was really hard for me to get used to. I'm used to creating the jump, but he's already there," she explained. "There were so many oxers in this course, and that was his strong point. He sees the back rail, and he's in the air for two minutes! He's still able to do that and land and turn smoothly."

"It's my first derby win, and I'm really happy," she went on to say. "I do like the derbies; I think they're really fun."

Early Applause and Maggie Jayne

The second derby class of the day was for jumpers. The $5,000 Junior/Amateur Jumper Speed Derby had 21 entries. The first competitor in the class set the time to beat with a clear round in a time of 70.939 seconds. It was set by Jay Land on Look Real, and Jubulent and Anna Bankstheir time held up for another 10 rounds until Lauren Tisbo and Springfield Tennessee brought it down to 70.577 seconds.

Five rounds later, it would be the winner's turn. Jubulent, ridden and owned by Anna Banks (left), made short work of the course with his enormous stride and carefulness over the natural jumps. They crossed the timers in a remarkable 66.183 seconds for the win. Just after them and close behind in time were Kathy Frame and McGrath, who were second in 67.929 seconds.

This was Banks' first time competing in a derby class, but she felt that with Jubulent's stride and the smaller jumps, they would do well. Banks thought that if she kept a consistent pace and made the inside tracks, it would benefit them.

"It was fun. I've never done natural jumps like this," she said. Banks also noted that her veteran jumper "definitely noticed" the two stride to two stride post and rails jumps, but otherwise "jumped everything great."

Banks enjoys doing speed classes with Jubulent, but said that it did take time to learn how to go fast on course. "My trainer Steve (Schaefer) has got me tuned to do the speed classes by now," she related. "I went straight from pony hunters to the bigger jumpers. It was a big transition."

The second week of the Showplace Spring Spectacular continues tomorrow with $1,500 jumper classes for 1.30m and 1.40m Jumpers, as well as Young Jumper divisions. The highlight class of the week is the $50,000 Showplace Productions Grand Prix on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

For further information on Showplace Productions and the Showplace Spring Spectacular, please visit www.showplaceproductions.com.

Final Results: $15,000 Chronicle of the Horse USHJA International Hunter Derby sponsored by Woodrun Farm

1, 640, Early Applause , Pony Lane Farm , Maggie Jayne: 177+185=362
2, 768, Upshot , Jane Gaston , Kelley Farmer: 182+178=360
3, 306, Raven , Missy Clark/North Run , Kelsey Thatcher: 159+164=323
4, 246, Sugar Boy , Wendy Hofmeister/Tammy Provost , Tammy Provost: 175+148=323
5, 294, Gianni , Pony Lane Farm , Kelsey Thatcher: 169+139=308
6, 557, Lazaro , Karlie Slowiak , Freddie Vazquez: 152.5+147=299.5
7, 121, U Pearl Harbor , Aalsmeer Farm , Maria Rasmussen: 156+140=296
8, 772, Content , Elizabeth Towell Boyd , Kelley Farmer: 162+131=293
9, 446, Almost Majic , Alliy Moyer , Tammy Provost: 169+96=265
10, 639, Capone , Pony Lane Farm , Maggie Jayne: 166+95= 265
11, 559, Orame , Kira Telford , Freddie Vazquez: 161+80=241
12, 556, Langley , Jodi Vazquez , Freddie Vazquez: 149+0=149

Final Results: $5,000 Junior/Amateur Owner Speed Derby sponsored by The Hope Family

1, 692, Jubulent , Anna Banks , Anna Banks: 0/66.183
2, 738, McGrath , Kathy Frame , Kathy Frame: 0/67.929
3, 384, Tusker , Pinetree Ponies , Jay Land: 0/69.302
4, 568, Springfield Tenessee , Tequestrian Farms , Lauren Tisbo: 0/70.577
5, 382, Look Real , Frances Land , Jay Land: 0/70.939
6, 548, Caladesi , Anna Murphy , Anna Murphy: 0/71.950
7, 379, Canaille , Taylor Land , Jay Land: 0/72.148
8, 682, Poco 3 , Wilhelm and Patty Genn , Ryan Genn: 0/72.942
9, 380, Cassia Catalina , Frances Land , Frances Land: 0/72.944
10, 689, Rupert , Skye Maclean , Skye Maclean: 0/76.045