Articles: Press Release

Contact:
Jennifer Wood of Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com

Wayne, IL - June 10, 2009 - The second week of the Showplace Spring Spectacular has begun, and the Open Jumpers started out competition this morning. In the 1.30m Jumpers, Steve Schaefer rode Barbara for DOE Enterprises to the win. Theo Genn and Clarissa Z were victorious in the 1.40m Jumpers.

There were 30 entries in today's 1.30m Jumper class, and the courses are designed this week by Hector Loyola, an "I" rated designer from Puerto Rico. The fastest double clear pair was Schaefer and Barbara, who finished in 41.649 seconds. The second place ribbon went to Zaboomerang and Morgan Kennedy, who were clear in 42.225 seconds. Orley and Haylie Jayne finished third in a time of 42.274 seconds.

This was only the fifth time that Schaefer has ridden Barbara, who is owned by Devon Esrick. Esrick trains with Alex Jayne at Our Day Farm and competes with Barbara in the junior jumpers. "I did a catch ride for them up at Ledges in the mini grand prix, and she was third. I've just been filling in back and forth," Schaefer explained. "She won the Schooling 1.25m last week with me and had four faults and got a ribbon in the Welcome Stake. I'm just helping out Alex and keeping the horse going, training her up. She's a little bit green to some of the bigger jumps, so we're just trying to give her confidence, and she's been super."

Barbara and Steve Schaefer

Schaefer was pleased with today's opening course. "I liked today's course; I enjoyed it. There was a nice option for the jump-off to either slice inside to the in and out or not. I did it with another horse and couldn't catch Barbara's time, so we must have galloped around pretty well," he said.

He added that the bay mare is "easy and fun." "She jumps great and gives you a good feeling. She covers the ground pretty easy and has a really good spring," he added.

In the 1.40m Jumper class, Theo Genn of Lebanon, OH, rode Clarissa Z to first place. They were double clear and had a time of 44.909 seconds. Bling It On and Tommy Fiegel were second, while Wilhelm Genn on Loredo and Theo Genn with Parodox tied for third. Clarissa Z and Theo Genn Genn has been riding Clarissa Z for a year. The talented, eight-year-old Zangerscheide mare won the Six Year Old Young Jumper Finals in Kentucky and competed in her first grand prix class when she was seven. "She was double clean and finished third. She's placed in every grand prix she's started," Genn said. "My father rode her for a little bit in the beginning. When one of my good grand prix horses got sold, he gave me a couple to ride. He ended up buying her for me, so now we own her. She quickly moved up."

Genn is taking it slow this summer with Clarissa, who he describes as "freaky careful." He described, "When we first got her, she went six weeks in a row competing in three classes per week without a single fault."

"The grand prix is pretty big here, so she's just taking it easy, doing the 1.40m Jumpers here. She's just relaxing," he explained. He said of today's class, "She was good today, extremely brave. I could have ridden her a little better, but she was awesome. I was just practicing going a little faster today. It wasn't too big today."

The second week of the Showplace Spring Spectacular continues tomorrow with Young Jumper Championships and then the $10,000 Open Jumper Welcome Stake. 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: $1,500 1.30m Open Jumpers
1. Barbara, Steve Schaefer: 0/0/41.649
2. Zaboomerang, Morgan Kennedy: 0/0/42.225
3. Orley, Haylie Jayne: 0/0/42.274
4. Gesa, Steve Schaefer: 0/0/42.488
5. Trinchero, Kyle King: 0/0/42.495
6. Darkside, Julie Koerner: 0/0/44.667
7. Clarissa Z, Theo Genn: 0/0/48.181
8. Thorwald, Morgan Thomas: 0/0/50.302

Final Results: $1,500 1.40m Open Jumpers
1. Clarissa Z, Theo Genn
2. Bling It On, Tommy Fiegel
3. Loredo, Wilhelm Genn
3. Parodox, Theo Genn
5. Copyright 3, Wilhelm Genn
6. Gangsta, Steve Schaefer