Lake Placid, NY – July 2, 2017 – Jimmy Torano rode Chiara Blue Diamond to victory in the $75,000 Devoucoux Richard M. Feldman Grand Prix of Lake Placid at the 48th annual Lake Placid Horse Show, presented by Sea Shore Stables, LLC and sponsored by Bainbridge Farm.
Six of 26 entries qualified for the jump-off by riding without penalty over the 16-effort first-round course designed by Michel Vaillancourt. Torano was the first to return for the 8-effort tiebreaker and he rode his 12-year-old, Oldenburg mare owned by Missy Clark to a clean ride in 38.979 seconds.
Jimmy Torano and Missy Clark’s Chiara Blue Diamond
After Amber Harte missed his time with a clean ride in 39.600 seconds on Austria 2, two riders — David Raposa on S&L Sage and Francois LaMontagne on Chanel Du Calvaire — tried leaving out a stride to the last fence. The strategy helped them both beat Torano’s time, but both dropped a rail at that last fence for four faults.
“The last line was a bit of an option and we thought about doing seven but I didn’t think you could leave the jump up doing seven,” Torano explained. “I did eight and those who tried seven had the rail down so it worked in my favor.”
After Raposa, winner of the class in 1990 on Shady Lady, scored four faults on Iliona, it came down to Laura Chapot who had snatched a win away from Torano on the last ride in Friday’s $30,000 Prevost Jumper Classic. Riding hard to the first fence, Chapot and Thornhill Kate had it down, ending the drama and giving Torano his first Grand Prix win in Lake Placid since he won the I Love New York Grand Prix on Aguila in 2005.
“It’s never over when you have Laura Chapot going behind you,” Torano said. “She’s a very fast rider and she beat me on Friday going dead last so that was in the back of my mind. When she came in I thought, ‘Oh here we go again,’ but this time it didn’t work out for her and fortunately it did for me.”
Jimmy Torano and Chiara Blue Diamond receive their awards
With the only other clean round in the jump-off, Harte and Austria 2 placed second while third went to LaMontagne. Raposa was fourth on S&L Sage and sixth on Iliona with Chapot taking fifth.
Prior to the Grand Prix, Alexandra Pielet won the $10,000 Mirror Lake Inn Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic, a member event of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series. Eleven of 30 horses qualified for the jump-off and Pielet earned the win by riding Helene Ve to two clean rounds and the fastest jump-off time of 34.756 seconds. Placing second was Sam Walker with a clean jump-off ride in 36.891 seconds on Twan and third went to Brian Sweeney on Calvados with a clean jump-off ride in 37.356 seconds.
Alexandra Pielet and Helene Ve receive their awards
In the $5,000 The Wild Center Children’s Jumper Classic, Zayna Rizvi topped a 54-horse field on Valdez. Fifteen entries qualified for the jump-off and Rizvi claimed the win with two fault-free rides and the fastest jump-off time of 30.679 seconds. Second place went to Ericka Koscinski on Ludwig’s Luna with a clean jump-off ride in 31.329 seconds. The Wild Center Children’s Jumper Classic is a member event of the North American League (NAL) and Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) Series. The NAL features two year-end finals: at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg on October and at the International Jumping Festival in San Juan Capistrano, CA in September. The WIHS Series holds Finals at the Washington International Horse Show in October.
Zayna Rizvi and Valdez receive their awards
Sunday’s highlights on the closing day of the Lake Placid Horse Show also included the Juliam Farm Lead Line Class and the C.M. Hadfield’s Parade of Champions.
Honored during the C.M. Hadfield’s Parade of Champions was Torano’s daughter, Natalia, champion of the Short Stirrup Division
After an off-day on Monday, the I Love New York Horse Show follows the Lake Placid Horse Show at the North Elba Show Grounds, running July 4-9 and featuring the $100,000 Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix presented by Sea Shore Stables, LLC and sponsored by Bainbridge Farm on Saturday, July 8.
The Lake Placid Horse Shows offer over $535,000 in prize money and feature the nation’s best horses and riders competing in four show rings. The horse shows offers more than 100 classes of competition each week for all levels of competition ranging from young children on ponies to grand prix competitors and Olympic competitors and medalists. Each show is USEF ‘AA’ rated for hunters and 6* rated for Jumpers.
Additional information on the Lake Placid Horse Shows is available by calling the Lake Placid Horse Show Association at 518-523-9625 or visit online at www.lakeplacidhorseshow.com.
Everyone enjoyed the Juliam Farm Leadline Class, especially those who rode!