LAKE PLACID — Darragh Kenny of Ireland and 14-year-old Victoria Colvin of Loxahatchee, Fla. were stars of the 35th annual I Love New York Horse Show, Presented by Sea Shore Stables, LLC.
Kenny rode Sandor De La Pomme to victory in the $75,000 Woodlea Farms Grand Prix and Colvin won both the Kathy Scholl Equitation Championship and the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by Eastern Hay & Purina Mills.
Coming on the heels of his win the previous week in the $75,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix of Lake Placid, Kenny became only the fifth rider to sweep both of Lake Placid’s Grand Prix in the same year. He joined Leslie Burr Howard (1985 and 1989), Debbie Dolan-Sweeney (1995), Margie Goldstein Engle (2001) and Jeffery Welles (2006) as the only riders to accomplish the feat.
Kenny was one of only four entries of 28 in the field to reach the jump-off by riding without penalty over the 15-jump first-round course at the North Elba Showgrounds designed by Olaf Peterson, Jr. of Germany. Kenny was the second to return for the 9-jump tiebreaker and he rode fault-free again, finishing in 45.685 seconds to take the win.
Candice King of Wellington, Fla. placed second on Whistler with a clean jump-off ride in 45.849 seconds. Third place also went to King who had four jump-off faults and a time of 45.284 seconds on her other horse, Kismet. Fourth went to Charlie Jacobs of Boston, Mass. who had four faults and time of 46.178 seconds on Leap Of Joy.
“The course was the winner (Saturday),” Kenny said. “It was a good course but with no room for error. When I saw Candice have that last rail I knew that even though I’d have to be fast, I wanted to be careful to go clean first.”
Following the Grand Prix, the Richard and Diana Feldman Perpetual Challenge Trophy for Excellence was awarded to Kenny as the rider winning the most combined prize money in the $75,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix during the Lake Placid Horse Show and the $75,000 Woodlea Farms Grand Prix during the I Love New York Horse Show.
Prior to the Grand Prix, Schaefer Raposa rode Wilco to victory over a 23-horse field in the $10,000 Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort High Junior Jumper Classic and Kelly Soleau rode Centre Ice to the win over a 29-horse field in the $10,000 Champlain Valley Equipment High Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic. Both Classics are member events of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series.
Also on Saturday, Victoria Colvin won the Kathy Scholl Equitation Championship which was held in the Richard M. Feldman Grand Prix Field. The Championship is open to those who placed first or second in the Pessoa/USEF Medal, ASPCA/NHS Maclay, Platinum Performance USEF Talent Search, National PHA or WIHS equitation classes at the two Lake Placid shows.
The following morning, Colvin was back in the winner’s circle again after riding Inclusive to victory in the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by Eastern Hay & Purina Mills. Colvin also placed third on Havana with second place going to Scott Stewart and Declaration, winner of the first Hunter Derby in Lake Placid in 2010.
Thirty-two horses competed in the Hunter Derby, held for the third year in the Richard M. Feldman Grand Prix Field. Bobby Murphy designed an Adirondack-themed course incorporating hiking trails, trout fishing, bears, owls, canoes, boats and Adirondack chairs. Riders had the option of choosing either the River Run Handy Trail or the Deeridge Handy Trail.
“Lake Placid is the best place for theme concepts,” Murphy said. “We started it last year with the Olympic theme and it’s something we wanted to continue this year. People come up here to vacation and have a good time and they’re familiar with a lot of what we incorporated into the course.
“Most of our exhibitors have gone trail riding on the River Run down to Mr. Feldman’s farm and many go hiking up the mountain trails. We get great support from the local community in providing the materials for the course and I really have to thank the crew who worked till 11 p.m. Saturday night building it.”
In the first round, Colvin and Inclusive, owned by Betsee Parker of Middleburg, VA, topped the field with a score of 189 points from judges Phillip DeVita, Scott Hofstetter, Scott Williamson and Julie Winkle. Standing second with 184 points was Bring It On, owned by North Star and shown by Darragh Kenny of Ireland who won both Grand Prix during the Lake Placid and I Love New York Horse Shows. Stewart and Declaration, owned by Fashion Farm, stood third with 182 while Colvin and Havana, owned by Dwight & Irwin, were fourth with 171.5.
Colvin and Havana topped the second round with 206 points, with Stewart and Declaration posting the second highest score of 200. Colvin and Inclusive scored 194, giving them an overall total of 383 for a one-point edge the over the 382 score of Stewart and Declaration.
“He really was great (Sunday) and it was so much fun to be able to ride him in the Grand Prix field,” said Colvin. “It’s such a treat to be able to ride in that field. I just love it.”
Colvin and Havana totaled 377.5 for the two rounds for a third place finish with Kenny and Bring It On placing fourth with 356. Schaefer Raposa was fifth with 350 points on Poolside, owned by Southfields Farm.
