Under the sweltering New Jersey sun, red hot Laura Chapot burned up the jump-off track and soared to a one-two finish in the $30,000 Stillwell-Hansen Grand Prix as the 110th Annual Monmouth County Horse Show came to a close at East Freehold Park.

Forty starters went to the post in the 1:30 p.m. main event at the Stillwell-Hansen Arena. Blake Alder of Germantown, TN, designed the course.

Memphis and Caitlyn Shiels led off the tiebreaker with a clear go and a jump-off time of 27.719 seconds to set the pace. Ken Berkley, the eventual third place finisher, rode third in the jump-off and took over the top spot early on with Maestro, owned by Rivers Edge Farm. Berkley tripped the timers in 26.349 seconds.

The Sundance Group’s Samantha and rider Chapot entered the fray from the seventh spot in the order and moved right to the top of the leaderboard with an amazing time of 25.536 seconds.

Chapot returned with Sprite in the seventeenth spot in the posted order. It was obvious that the New Jersey duo’s reputation preceded them as the crowd buzzed with a noticeable excitement. Sprite and Chapot flashed across the finish line in 25.239 seconds, 0.29 seconds faster than her ride on her first gray mare Samantha.

For the full wrap-up of the Monmouth County Horse Show, visit www.phelpsmediagroup.com/viewarticle.php?id=755.

~~~