The stars, both equestrian and celebrity, were out at the 2005 Lake Placid and I Love New York Horse Shows. Among the celebrities on hand were rock stars Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, former National Football League star and current television sportscaster Ahmad Rashad, and CNN anchor Lou Dobbs to name just a few.
The top stars of the equestrian competition were Kent Farrington of Southport, CT, who won the $60,000 Budweiser Grandprix of Lake Placid CSI** for the Whitney Perpetual Challenge Trophy to close the 36th annual Lake Placid Horse Show, and Jimmy Torano of Fort Lauderdale, FL, who rode Aguila to victory in the $75,000 Hermès I Love New York Grandprix CSI** to close the 28th annual I Love New York Horse Show.
The CSI designations came with recognition from the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) as officially sanctioned FEI events. This designation gave riders the opportunity to earn points not only for the FEI’s World Rider Rankings, but also for the United States Equestrian Federation’s Computer Ranking List. This list, used to select U.S. teams for international show jumping competitions, is of utmost importance to grand prix riders with international aspirations.
“Selection to teams for Nations’ Cups and international teams is very important to many of our riders,” said Lake Placid Horse Show Association Chairman Richard M. Feldman. “The FEI recognition is necessary for riders in our horse shows to earn computer list points. We are happy to do this for our riders and it is something that we’ll do again next year.”
Feldman also pointed out that the horse shows will continue their policy of limiting entries and that the lower number of horses this year, as opposed to 2004, made everyone “early” and “happy.”
“While more entries means more income for the horse shows, that’s not our only concern,” he said. “In Lake Placid, we go to great lengths to make sure that everyone has a great time and that they regard it as their best two weeks of the year. The number of horses we had this year got people out of the horse shows by 5:00 pm each day and allowed them to take advantage of all Lake Placid has to offer, whether they like the hiking, swimming, shopping or Lake Placid’s many great restaurants. We may have had too many horses in 2004, but this year’s number was just right, and that number will continue in the future.”
The Lake Placid Horse Show began on Wednesday, June 29, when Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, NJ, rode Noteworthy to victory in the Adirondack Store 1.35 meter jump-off. Chapot topped the field of 50 horses by riding two penalty-free rides and a jump-off time of 35.339 seconds. Her time was nearly a half-second faster than the 35.819 seconds turned in by Jeff Welles of Newtown, CT, on Octavius.
Torano rode his grand prix mount Aguila to victory in the Whiteface Mountain 1.45 meter jump-off on Thursday, June 30. Torano was the eighth of 23 entries to try the 14-jump first-round course. He completed the course fault-free to qualify for the jump-off and then took the class lead by completing the seven-jump jump-off course without fault in 28.852 seconds. Lauren Bass of Willoughby, OH, finished the jump-off fault-free in 29.680 seconds on Firefly to earn second place. Third place went to two-time U.S. Olympian Lisa Jacquin of Collegeville, PA, who finished the jump-off in 31.277 seconds on Kassidy.
Chapot was back in the winner’s circle after she rode Sprite to victory in the $7,500 1.45 meter Golden Arrow Open Jumper class. Chapot was one of six entries from the starting field of 11 to reach the jump-off by riding fault-free over the 11-jump, first-round course. She was then the second-to-last rider to return for the seven-obstacle jump-off course. Four horse-and-rider combinations rode clean in the jump-off, so time was the