Laura Kraut extended her lead to 13 points over Beezie Madden in the race for American Grand Prix Association (AGA) Rider of the Year following a fifth place finish in the Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix in Kentucky over the weekend. Meanwhile, victories by Aaron Vale in Kentucky and Rich Fellers in California have juggled the standings and moved both of those riders into contention for the American Grand Prix Association title.
Entering its 27th year, the AGA Grand Prix Series of Show Jumping is the world’s richest and longest-running series of equestrian show jumping events. The AGA offers over $3 million in prize money on a tour that encompasses thirty events and twenty different equestrian market locations across the United States. There are nineteen events remaining on this year’s schedule; eight in the West and eleven in the East.
In Kentucky, Vale outdistanced Paige Johnson and Jill Henselwood to post the victory in the $50,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix at the Kentucky Spring Horse Show in Lexington on Sunday, May 22, 2005. Vale, riding Artur 28, won for the second week in a row at the Kentucky Horse Park and added 17 points to his total. He moved into tenth place in the race for AGA Rider of the Year with 36 points. The Sunday win, Vale’s 107th career victory, was his second victory on the 2005 AGA tour, having taken the season opener in Jacksonville, FL, in January.
Red-hot Rich Fellers, the winner of the $100,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar, CA, added 32 points and two clear rounds to his totals and moved from off the charts into twelfth place on the AGA Rider of the Year leader board. Fellers was aboard McGuinness. The duo followed up their Grand Prix of Del Mar win with a victory in the Grand Prix of California the following week.
Leslie Steele, a second place finisher to Fellers at Del Mar, has jumped into 17th place on the AGA Rider of the Year chart while Johnson, who finished second at Lexington, moved up to the 25th spot.
Coincidentally, Vale’s mount, Artur 28, and Fellers’ equine partner, McGuinness, are now tied for tenth place in the AGA Horse of the Year battle with $30,000 apiece. There were no changes among the top nine horses in the Horse of the Year race. Steele’s mount, AW Butterfly Hula, is up to 16th and Johnson’s Lancier 4 to 25th in the Horse of the Year standings.
On Monday, May 30, 2005, AGA action on the West Coast heats up again with the $35,000 Lexus Glendale Grand Prix in Glendale, followed by the $35,000 Oaks Summer Classic on June 12 in San Juan Capistrano. Following those two California events, Colorado takes center stage for two weeks on July 16 and July 23, 2005. In the East, a busy AGA schedule shows the $75,000 Budweiser Grand Prix of Devon on the calendar for June, 2, 2005 and the $100,000 Budweiser Upperville Jumper Classic ten days later on June 12. Then, it’s on to upstate New York for two Grand Prix events in a row in Lake Placid on July 3 and July 9, 2005.
For Rider of the Year, Horse of the Year and Rookie of the Year Standings, visit www.stadiumjumping.com/aga/index.cfm.
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