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| Eric Navet and Basimodo. Taylor Pence Photo |
Lexington, KY – May 26, 2017 – Three-time French Olympian and former World Show Jumping Champion Eric Navet was on the winner’s podium twice in one day at the Lexington International CSI 3*, as he continued his stellar week at the Split Rock Jumping Tour, May 24-28, on the beautiful showground of Split Rock Farm.
In the main event of the day, Navet piloted Basimodo to the win in the $40,000 Amalaya Investments CSI 3* Welcome Stake, besting a field of 44 entries with two clean rounds and a jump-off time of 39.87. Eve Jobs placed second on Tiny Toon Similly with a clean jump-off ride in 43.65 seconds and Hayley Barnhill was third on Zephire with a fault-free jump-off and a time of 44.91.
“I am very proud of our horses, they are playing the game with us and it is all about having fun,” said Navet. “For us as riders, and for the horses as well, that is the most important thing, to enjoy the sport. They say that a good jumper loves to jump and our goal is to keep them loving the sport. It must be that way, it must be a game. It is not about the pressure to get the results; in my opinion the first thing is to have fun with the horse and treat him as a partner and when the horse plays the game then you start winning.
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“Basimodo is a horse that is not used to showing at this level; he normally shows at a lower level, but I could tell he was feeling good in the first round so I thought I could give it a try in the jump-off. I don’t think that I went crazy fast but I made a sharp cut to the second fence and that gave me enough time. I am so proud of him because this is the first time he has jumped that big so it was a great day today.”
Navet was also victorious in the $5,000 Charlie Jayne & Jack Hardin Towell-sponsored 1.40m Jumper class. Riding Signe Ostby’s The Flying Ham, he showed the crowd just why his resume is so impressive, completing the course designed by Rio Olympic course designerGuilherme Jorge, fault-free in a time of 59.59, 13 seconds ahead of Alma Bjorklund of Sweden, who finished with no penalties in 72.67 seconds with Unex Captain Chaos 8 for second place.
“We have a group of horses that are very competitive and we are having a lot of fun with them,” said Navet. “We are here with 11 horses and we have a great team with Karl Cook. We have a lot of young horses too, and I think that this is the best job to do.
“This is a fantastic show. What I like about it most is the spirit of the organization. It is a very friendly, welcoming show, and I can feel that it is not a show that is made only for business. The show is very friendly and you can feel that all the team does everything possible to make both riders and horses happy, and that makes everything very, very good. I love it!”
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Eric Navet on The Flying Ham. Taylor Pence Photo
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Hunter Holloway and I Love Lucy won the $5,000 LV Harkness & Co. 1.40m National Jumper class with a clear round in a time of 61.723.
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