John Pearce Leads $10,000 Cypress Point Stables 1.40m Jumpers from Start to Finish at Temecula Valley National Horse Show

Temecula, Calif. – May 17, 2019 – The second week of the Temecula Valley National Horse Show hit its halfway point Friday, with the first half of the weekly jumper divisions reaching their conclusions and more human and equine athletes jumping for prize money in the Audi Grand Prix Arena, presented by Evergate Stables. In the $10,000 Cypress Point Stables 1.40m Jumpers, John Pearce once again topped the field, this time with the ride on Chantico as he topped the leaderboard and led the victory gallop, taking home the blue ribbon and greatest share of the purse. Riding to a league all their own in the MediVet Equine 1.30m Jumpers, Archer and Rhys Farms’ Legolas blew away the competition with a commanding lead, finishing the class almost three seconds ahead of the next-closest finisher.

John Pearce and Chantico

The first to ride, Pearce set the early lead in the $10,000 Cypress Point Stables 1.40m Jumper speed round with Chantico, leaving all the jumps up in a fast 69.60 seconds. It would take seven combinations to come close to Pearce’s time and stay under 70 seconds, with Kaitlin Campbell and Ilan almost surpassing the frontrunners’ time, breaking the beam in a successful time of 69.88 seconds to take over the second place spot. At the end of the order, Michelle Parker and Chipotle looked to be contenders, ultimately coming the closest to catching Pearce with a blazing time of 69.61 seconds, but an unfortunate rail kept the duo off the podium.

Leading from start to finish, Pearce took the win with Karen Bell’s Chantico. Campbell was awarded second place aboard Ilan, owned by SWS Training, and third place went to Femke Courchaine and Dereusa S, owned by John Van Den Bosch. Pearce has had a tremendous start to the Temecula Valley National Horse Show at Galway Downs, coming off a win Thursday in the $7,500 Interactive Mortgage 10 & Under Futurity Classic aboard Seven Seas, the same horse he piloted to fifth place in Friday’s 1.40m class. The partnership of Pearce and Chantico has proven fruitful in recent months, as the pair championed the $35,000 Grand Prix of the Pacific in October 2018 and the $25,000 SmartPak Open Prix in November 2018, among other accolades.

John Pearce and Chantico in the presentation

Earlier in the day, the Medivet Equine 1.30m Jumper division concluded with one final opportunity for competitors to earn valuable points towards the overall championship. Operating like a power and speed class, the first seven fences made up phase one, while the last five obstacles were considered phase two, with faults carried throughout and the latter time serving as the final tally. One of the first to take to the ring, Courchaine with the ride on Hollywood set the early pace with a clean second phase time of 34.456 seconds to emerge as the initial frontrunners. Soon thereafter, Courchaine surpassed her earlier efforts, directing Houdini, also owned by Bosch, to an even quicker time of 33.202 seconds.

Lindsay Archer and Legolas
Lindsay Archer and Legolas

Already with a series of top results under her belt from the first two days of competition, Archer piloted Legolas over course designer Alan Wade’s (IRL) track seamlessly and briskly as one of the later pairs to ride, tripping the timers in 30.687 seconds to pull way ahead of the field for the top spot. Courchaine and Houdini ultimately earned second place honors, and as the last to go, Francie Nilforushan maneuvered Ali Nilforushan’s Aussergewoehnlich to a fast time of 33.319 seconds, leaving all the rails up to secure third place.

Archer and Legolas added to their day’s success as the MediVet Equine 1.30m Jumper division champions after winning Friday and capturing fifth position earlier in the week. With a contingent of talented exhibitors competing over the first half of the week, points were tight, and Dereusa S and Carly Ramsey’s Lorenzo-T, ridden by Courchaine and Ramsey, respectively, tied for the reserve championship.

The Temecula Valley National Horse Show will continue for two more days, with the $40,000 National Grand Prix, $10,000 1.35m Speed Classic and $1,000 U25 Jumper Classic all taking place Saturday afternoon, followed by a series of jumper classics Sunday to round out the week.

FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE

John Pearce – 10,000 Cypress Point Stables 1.40m Jumper winner

On his successful start to the horse show:
“It feels good! It’s nice to start out the first week of three – I’m here for all three so it’s nice to start out that way for sure.”

On his horses, Chantico and Seven Seas:
“Chantico, I’ve had him a little while now, about five years. He is an interesting character. It has taken a little while to really build a partnership with him, but in the last six months to a year we have really gelled and he has been very consistent and is doing really well. He has been winning a lot of these types of classes, the 1.40m – 1.45m speed classes. Seven Seas has just moved up to the 1.40m classes, so it’s fairly new to him. I think he has a very bright future. He has a lot of jump, and he is careful and becoming really, really brave. I’m enjoying bringing him along. I’ve had him about three years now and I’ve brought him up since the beginning. I’m really happy with the progress with him.”

On his plans for Chantico and Seven Seas:
“I don’t think Chantico is going to be a 1.60m horse, but he is definitely a really competitive National grand prix horse. I’m hoping Seven Seas is going to continue on and jump some really big classes for me.”

On his strategy for the class:
“I think the priority today was to leave the jumps up. This is a very unique style of jumping. This ring is really wonderful, I like it. It’s a smaller ring than what we are used to here in Southern California, but it has a great ambiance. They are only 10-foot rails versus the 12-foot rails we normally jump. It’s very careful jumping and there is a slight grade to the ring, which can get you into trouble so you have to worry about that. Today my priority was to leave the jumps up. I wanted to be fast but you also have to ride very carefully. The course by Alan Wade, who is probably one of the best course designers in the world – he is very good at making you be careful in your riding. He is a smart course designer. Subtle, but very clever.”

RESULTS

$10,000 Cypress Point Stables 1.40m Jumpers
Place / Horse / Rider / Total Faults / Time
1. Chantico / John Pearce / 0 / 69.604
2. Ilan / Kaitlin Campbell / 0 / 69.879
3. Dereusa S / Femke Courchaine / 0 / 70.746
4. Elicole / Jason Mcardle / 0 / 71.450
5. Seven Seas / John Pearce / 0 / 75.770
6. Chipotle / Michelle Parker / 4 / 69.609
7. Edesa’s Dylan / Eddy Sepul / 4 / 73.258
8. Cincenetty GJ Z / Ashley Stannard / 6 / 82.562
9. Fatibello / Bruno Diniz / 29 / 89.299

MediVet Equine 1.30m Jumpers
Place / Horse / Rider / Total Faults / R2 Time
1. Legolas / Lindsay Archer / 0 / 30.687
2. Houdini / Femke Courchaine / 0 / 33.202
3. Aussergewoehnlich / Francie Nilforushan / 0 / 33.319
4. Hollywood / Femke Courchaine / 0 / 34.456
5. Hermoso / Allison Kroff / 4 / 32.625
6. Toska / Emilee Libby / 4 / 33.094
7. Cabacento / Jason Mcardle / 4 / 36.494
8. Nikolina / Jason Mcardle / 6 / 39.622
9. Edesa’s Ugano / Eddy Sepul / 7 / 33.498
10. Exact / Kristy Miller / 8 / 39.419

For more information, please visit www.jump-nee.com.

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