Conor O’Regan and Rivage De Lormay Ride Only Double-Clear in $40,000 Bluegrass Festival Grand Prix

Conor O'Regan and Rivage De Lormay
Conor O’Regan and Rivage De Lormay

Lexington, Ky. – Aug. 20, 2017 – Though Sunday was the last day of competition at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show, nearly 30 horses and riders weren’t yet ready to call it quits and took to the Rolex Stadium one final time for their chance to top the leaderboard in the $40,000 Bluegrass Festival Grand Prix, sponsored by Audi of Lexington. Olympic course designer Guilherme Jorge’s track proved tricky for a number of competitors, with only four entries riding a clean and clear first round to qualify for the jump-off. Conor O’Regan and Rivage De Lormay ended up as the only duo that did not fall victim to a rail, riding to the only double-clear of the afternoon to claim the grand prix victory.

The first two in the order-of-go, Paulo Santana and his own Taloubet as well as Sloane Coles aboard The Springledge Group’s Espirit, each mastered Jorge’s jumper track, though that would not set the tone for the class. A steady drought of clear rides followed, only twice interrupted by David Beisel with the ride on the ever-speedy stallion Ammeretto, owned by Equine Holdings, LLC, and O’Regan and Horseware’s Rivage De Lormay. A pattern emerged throughout the class, with multiple entries dropping the second half of the tight combination nearing the end of the course or exhibiting trouble in the holding lines, which resulted in plenty of downed rails. With a small number of contenders to compete against in the jump-off, each qualified pair felt the pressure to keep all of the cups in the rails.

Conor O'Regan and Rivage De Lormay
Conor O’Regan and Rivage De Lormay

The first back in the ring, Santana and Taloubet tripped the timers in a quick 35.539 seconds, but unfortunately dropped a rail to end on a 4-fault total. Coles and Espirit followed second, but also knocked a pole to add 4 faults to their 5 time faults after breaking the beam in 49.376 seconds to finish on a cumulative 9 faults. Riding a more conservative trip in a time of 43.141 seconds, O’Regan piloted Rivage De Lormay to an efficient final go around the track, leaving the course intact with only one competitor left to ride. Always a fierce competitor in the grand prix, Biesel and his reliable Ammeretto took to the ring hoping to overcome O’Regan, and it appeared they were going to do just that until they dropped the back rail of one of the final oxers, solidifying O’Regan and Rivage De Lormay as the champions as the only double-clear pair.

Santana and Taloubet finished second-best, followed by Beisel and Ammeretto in third position with their time of 40.172 seconds. Coles and Espirit ended the day in fourth place, with Winn Alden and Southern Arches, LLC’s Charlie taking fifth place with only 2 time faults in the first round. O’Regan added another top placing to his name with the sixth place finish aboard Barlando, owned by Dynomite Ranch, LLC, as the quickest 4-faulters with a first round time of 75.427 seconds. Due to his multiple strong finishes throughout the week in the jumper rings, and aided by his two top finishes Sunday, O’Regan was awarded the Envisian Leading Rider Award as the rider who had accumulated the most points in jumper divisions during the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show.

Sunday afternoon’s competition concludes jumper action at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show at the Kentucky Horse Park, but the jumpers will return Aug. 23–27 for the KHJA Horse Show. Riders will have another shot at the prize money in the $10,000 Hagyard Welcome Stake and $30,000 KHJA Grand Prix.

FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE

Conor O’Regan – $40,000 Bluegrass Festival Grand Prix champion

On Rivage De Lormay:
“The horse is a 12-year-old Selle Français gelding. He’s owned by Horseware Ireland — Tom McGuiness. I started riding the horse at the end of last year in November and it’s been a really good process with him. I started doing 1.30m–1.35m and he finished Wellington doing 1.40m and then I started doing some grand prix classes in the spring. He’s been super consistent. Just knocking on the door. He got some places in FEI in Michigan and it’s just been building, so I feel like the horse deserves to win a class. It was a tough course today so he handled it really well.”

On the course:
“Walking the course I didn’t think there was going to be a ton of clear rounds and I actually really didn’t think it was going to suit my horse. He’s really scopey and he’s got a massive stride, and a lot of the lines were quite short and backwards, but he was brilliant. He was very rideable. He answered every question that was put in front of him. The combination was quite tricky towards the ingate — oxer, oxer, vertical. My horse was great and my other horse Barlando also jumped fantastic. He was sixth with the quickest 4 faults. He did not do that much wrong so I was happy with him also.”

On the jump-off:
“My horse is naturally not a quick horse, but he’s got a massive stride and he covers a lot of ground. The other three competitors in the jump-off were all very quick. Paulo going first was quick, and Sloane has won some grand prix events, and of course [there’s] David Beisel. Going last I was looking over my shoulder. My plan changed a little bit after Sloane went and there were no clear rounds so I said that I’ll take a chance knowing that my horse is careful. We jumped a clear round and put the pressure on David and it worked out. I didn’t watch [David]. I was happy with my horse and whatever happened, happened. I’m just fortunate that my horse has done well today and I got the win.”

RESULTS

Place / Rider / Horse / Owner / R1 Faults / R2 Faults / Time

$40,000 Bluegrass Festival Grand Prix
1. Conor O’Regan / Rivage De Lormay / Horseware / 0 / 0 / 43.141
2. Paulo Santana, Filho / Taloubet / Paulo Santana, Filho / 0 / 4 / 35.539
3. David Beisel / Ammeretto / Equine Holdings LLC / 0 / 4 / 40.172
4. Sloane Coles / Esprit / The Springledge Group / 0 / 9 / 49.376
5. Winn Alden / Charlie / Southern Arches, LLC / 2 / 85.177
6. Conor O’regan / Barlando / Dynomite Ranch, LLC / 4 / 75.427
7. Kelli Cruciotti / Hadja Van Orshof / Kelli Cruciotti / 4 / 78.299
8. Kelli Cruciotti / Haylie Van De Groenendijk / Serenity Farm / 4 / 78.830
9. David Beisel / Call Me Hannes / Harlow Investment Enterprises, LLC / 4 / 79.235
10. Paige Sorce / Chica’s Boy / Western Meadow Farm LLC / 4 / 82.796

For more information on the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show, please click here.

Aces and Eights Earns USHJA National Hunter Derby Title with Patricia Griffith

Patricia Griffith and Aces and Eights
Patricia Griffith and Aces and Eights

Closing out a competitive week of hunter competition at the Kentucky Horse Park, the USHJA National Hunter Derby title presented one final chance for hunter riders to earn the championship honors before week’s end. Nearly 50 pairs made their way to the Alltech Arena Sunday afternoon to tackle designer Joseph Carnicorn’s classic round course, each hoping to garner enough points to qualify for the handy round as one of the top 12 contenders. Rewarded with the highest score in each of the two rounds was Patricia Griffith and Aces and Eights, owned by Double Down Farm, LLC, to earn the lead spot in the victory gallop as the USHJA National Hunter Derby champions.

Patricia Griffith and Aces and Eights
Patricia Griffith and Aces and Eights

Having ridden to the high score of 92 during the classic round, Griffith and “Poker” sat at the head of the class and the last to go in the handy round. The 11 pairs prior each displayed varying amounts of handiness, some taking advantage of the course’s inside turns and high fence options, while others opted for wider approaches, with Jeff Gogul and Snowbird, owned by Sofia Roberts, LLC, riding to the lead as the second-to-last to enter the ring. Gogul and the grey horse were consistent over the two rounds of competition, earning twin 87 scores for a total of 174.00. As the last to go, Griffith and Poker needed a score of 82 to overtake the class leaders, and had no problem achieving that goal with their smooth handy round that pulled in a score of 89 from the judges panel. Combined with the 92 score from the classic round, Griffith and Poker finished on a 181.00 score, seven points ahead of Gogul.

Gogul and Snowbird finished the day in the reserve spot, followed by Jenny Karazissis and Dulcie Lou Morris’ Big Shot in third place with a composite score of 170.00, comprised of an 83.00 classic score and an 87.00 handy score. Fourth place was claimed by Taylor Adams and Lucretia, owned by Arose Farms, LLC, with their two-phase score of 167.00. Just a few points behind with marks of 164.50, Maddie Thorn and Echo Park, owned by L&W Equine Investments, LLC, nabbed the fifth position to round out the top spots.

Patricia Griffith and Aces and Eights; Jeff Gogul and Snowbird; and Jenny Karazissis and Big Shot
Patricia Griffith and Aces and Eights; Jeff Gogul and Snowbird; and Jenny Karazissis and Big Shot

The USHJA National Hunter Derby rounds out hunter competition during the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show, but the KHJA Horse Show will bring competitors back to the Kentucky Horse Park Aug. 23–27, a week that will feature a $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, sponsored by World Equestrian Center and Kentucky Horse Shows, LLC.

FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE

Patricia Griffith – USHJA National Hunter Derby champion

On Aces and Eights:
“I catch rode him in about three shows two years ago for the owner, Jennifer Elliott, and then he had a huge break. I think they gave him the rest of that year off because he had just been gelded, and then he started back again and John French rode him a little bit in California before [Jennifer] called me in June. She said, ‘Hey I know you always had a good rapport with this horse, would you be interested in taking him?’ I said, ‘Of course,’ because I always loved him and he has been awesome for us.”

On her successes and plans for Aces and Eights:
“He is for sale, and I took him to Lake Placid, where he was champion both weeks. Then he won a derby at [HITS] Saugerties. He came here and I was really proud of him, he was champion in the Performance Working 3’3” Hunters, which had 100 in it during the second day. I really love the horse. He is elastic in his jump and has a beautiful way of covering the ground. He is brave so these are the perfect classes for him to get his feet wet before he jumps higher. He will do the First Years next year.”

On the handy course:
“There was a very hard option from [fence] two to [fence] three that I thought would be better probably not for today, as this is only the third or fourth handy he has really done with me. I thought the turn back to the vertical actually worked really well. It looked a lot harder than it was when you got in there, and I thought it was presented really nicely, especially for my horse. For a younger horse, it was perfect to get in the indoor around a nice, inviting track.”

RESULTS

Place / Rider / Horse / Owner / Classic Score / Handy Score / Final

USHJA National Hunter Derby
1. Patricia Griffith / Aces and Eights / Double Down Farm, LLC / 92.000 / 89.000 / 181.00
2. Jeff Gogul / Snowbird / Sofia Roberts, LLC / 87.000 / 87.000 / 174.00
3. Jenny Karazissis / Big Shot / Dulcie Lou Morris / 83.000 / 87.000 / 170.00
4. Taylor Adams / Lucretia / Arose Farms, LLC / 81.000 / 86.000 / 167.00
5. Maddie Thorn / Echo Park / L&W Equine Investments, LLC / 84.500 / 80.000 / 164.50
6. Augusta Iwasaki / Illusion / Iwasaki & Reilly / 83.500 / 77.000 / 160.50
7. Nada Wise / Sunday Morning / Kirby Mccool / 88.000 / 72.000 / 160.00
8. Jeff Gogul / Cortese / Stadium Horses, LLC / 87.500 / 69.000 / 156.50
9. Holly Shepherd / Cesar De Lison Z / Belle Rolfe / 86.000 / 67.000 / 153.00
10. Amanda Shaw / Contemporary / Amanda Shaw / 82.000 / 69.000 / 151.00

For more information on the USHJA National Hunter Derby, please click here.

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