McFarlane
riding Ezrah, Wins $75,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar
Del
Mar Fairgrounds - Undaunted by rain earlier in the day, a near-sellout
crowd filled the Del Mar Arena to watch Ezrah, ridden by Duncan
McFarlane, win the $75,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar presented by
Budweiser, an American Grand Prix Association event, at the 58th
Annual Del Mar National Horse Show.
Duncan McFarlane and Ezrah went double clear and were the fastest
in the jump-off against five finalists. McFarlane's quick and handy
time narrowly beat Nicole Shahinian-Simpson, on El Campeon's Cirka
Z, owned by El Campeon Farms. Shahinian-Simpson was double clear
just .171 of a second behind McFarlane on Ezrah.
A total of 28 horses and riders took on the challenge of the 16-fence
Grand Prix of Del Mar course. Despite earlier rains and wet ground
conditions, course designer Peter Holmes of Canada set a time allowed
on the course of 83 seconds. Three riders retired from the course
without finishing; while five finished the first round clean and
moved on to the jump-off course of eight fences with a time allowed
of 51 seconds.
(Photo credit: Ed Moore Photography)
Duncan
McFarlane and Ezrah went double clear and were the fastest in the
jump-off to win the $75,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar, presented
by Budweiser, an AGA event.
Nicole Shahinian-Simpson and El Campeon's Cirka Z nailed the first
clean rounds in each go of the Grand Prix. She had the only clean
go in the first round until 20 horses later, when Richard Spooner
and Bradford, owned by Kenly Farms, went clean with a time of 80.234.
Among the final five, Air Jordan, ridden and owned by John Pearce,
was ahead of the clock in the jump-off and finished with a time
of 34.749 but took a rail down on the way.
Will Simpson on El Campeon's Ado Annie, owned by El Campeon Farms
looked like they would be the fastest to finish until the very last
fence. A rail came down at the bitter end as they clocked 35.268.
Richard Spooner and Bradford, had rails down at two fences in the
jump-off. They finished with eight faults in 36.282 seconds. The
Lexus $25,000 Surfside Grand Prix qualifier winner Robinson, owned
by Halfmoon Bay Investment Group, and Spooner were a crowd favorite,
but had rails down at the combination and the last fence in the
first round.
Last year's winner Jenni Martin, and Pop-Socks, owned by Temecula
Valley Equestrian Center were unsuccessful in winning two in a row.
In the first round Martin and Pop-Socks had time faults and jump
faults with a rail at the last fence to finish 18th overall.
Winning rider Duncan McFarlane, his wife Gry, and son Ian, live
in Fairfield, CA, at their Windfall Farm. Originally from New Zealand,
McFarlane trains and rides for Ezrah's owner Kathie Cheatham.
Complete results for the$75,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar presented
by Budweiser, an American Grand Prix Association event and the Del
Mar National Horse Show can be found by visiting the show's website
at www.delmarnational.com.
#
# # #Class 100 - $75,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar - 29 entries
Pl. Rider Horse Owner Faults/Time
1 Duncan McFarlane Ezrah Kathie Cheatham 0/78.114 0/36.554
2 Nicole Shahinian- El Campeon's Cirka Z El Campeon Farms 0/81.270
0/36.725
Simpson
3 John Pearce Air Jordan John Pearce 0/82.685 4/34.749
4 Will Simpson El Campeon's Ado Annie El Campeon Farms 0/78.655
4/35.268
5 Richard Spooner Bradford Kenly Farms 0/80.234 8/36.282
6 Nicole Shahinian- El Campeon's Petri El Campeon Farms 1/83.704
Simpson
7 Mark Watring Sapphire Watring/Bohannan 3/85.129
8 Hugh Mutch Contendor The Contendor Group 4/79.911
9 Sarah Baldwin Kijoy Foever Brookwood Stables 5/83.673
10 Gail Greenough Kilkenny Lesandra Kilkenny Crest 6/84.516
11 Molly Talla Mr. Pacific Molly Talla 8/78.551
12 Richard Spooner Robinson Halfmoon Bay Inv. Grp 8/79.199
.
|
