Engle Wins Third Consecutive $50,000 Hermès I Love New York Grand Prix, To Highlight I Love New York Horse Show

Lake Placid Horse Shows Complete Most Successful Year Ever

Lake Placid, NY—July 9, 2003— The 2003 Lake Placid Horse Shows were the most successful in their 34-year history. The success of the 34th annual Lake Placid Horse Show and 26th annual I Love New York Horse Show were evident in several regards including number of entries, weather, and celebrity turnout. Rock superstar Bruce Springsteen, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, actress Glenn Close and CNN’s Lou Dobbs were all on hand to see their daughters compete.

“The success of this year’s horse shows was unprecedented,” said Lake Placid Horse Show Association Chairman Richard M. Feldman. “The financial support we received from sponsors, the number of entries, the amount of revenue generated on the local economy by the 4,000 exhibitors we brought to town were all at record levels. There were more smiles on the faces of everyone at the show than ever before. This was definitely the most gratifying of my 15 years on the Board.”

Margie Goldstein Engle of Wellington, FL won the $50,000 Hermès I Love New York Grand Prix for an unprecedented third consecutive year during the 26th annual I Love New York Horse Show, July 2 – 6, 2003 the second of this year’s Lake Placid Horse Shows.

Engle’s win was the 114th of her career, adding to her U.S. record. The Sydney Olympic veteran and seven-time American Grandprix Association (AGA) Rider of the Year rode Hidden Creek’s Jones to one of eight fault-free rides turned in by the starting field of 31 over the 16-jump, first-round course at the North Elba Showgrounds.

Two-time AGA Rider of the Year McLain Ward of Brewster, NY took the lead halfway through the tiebreaking jump-off when he finished the eight-jump, tiebreaker course fault-free in 41.030 seconds on the 7-year-old, Belgian-bred mare, Sapphire, the youngest horse in the competition. Two rides later, Engle moved Ward out of the lead when she rode her 12-year-old, Dutch-bred gelding to a clean ride in 40.169 seconds to claim her sixth Grand Prix win at Lake Placid, second to the record seven won by two-time Olympic medalist Leslie Burr Howard of Westport, CT.

Third place went to four-time Olympian Anne Kursinski of Flemington, NJ who finished with a fault-free jump-off ride in 42.924 seconds on Great Point.

Following the $50,000 Hermès I Love New York Grand Prix, McLain Ward, who won $22,000 for his 2nd place finishes in both the $50,000 Budweiser Grand Prix of Lake Placid and $50,000 Hermès I Love New York Grand Prix, was awarded the Richard and Diana Feldman Perpetual Challenge Trophy for Excellence. The trophy is presented to the rider who competed in both grand prix events at the Lake Placid and I Love New York Horse Shows and won the most combined prize money.

Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series

I Love New York horse show action also included two Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic series events for junior riders and amateur/owner riders. Katrina Woods of Bronxville, NY, won the Salamander Farm High Junior Jumper Classic riding her Susdal. Louis Jacobs of East Aurora, NY, topped the field aboard Santa Cruz in the Golden Arrow Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic. Points earned in these two Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series events help determine which junior and amateur/owner riders will qualify to compete in the 2003 National Horse Show in Wellington, FL.

Phelps School Open Stake

Earlier in the week, Ward kicked off the opening day of the I Love New York Horse Show with a victory in The Phelps School Open Stake. The class saw 13 of 33 entries qualify for the tiebreaking jump-off by riding without penalty over the 14-jump first-round course. The first of those 13 to ride penalty-free over the seven-jump tiebreaker course was Kursinski who took a temporary lead when she finished the jump-off in 39.030 seconds on Sincere.

Peter Leone of Greenwich, CT, Kursinski’s 1996 Silver Medal Olympic teammate, moved her out of the lead when he finished the jump-off fault-free in 38.451 seconds. His lead held until Ward mastered the Pierre Jolicoeur-designed course in 37.234 fault-free seconds. The final three entries in the jump-off failed to top Ward’s time, giving him the win. Leone’s time held for second place and Kursinski finished third.

July 3 Classes

The next day, Kursinski earned the top prize by posting the only fault-free ride in the Pin Oak Farm Open Jumper Welcome Stake on Great Point. Nineteen other riders scored penalties as they rode the challenging 15-jump course. Two-time Olympian Lisa Jacquin of Collegeville, PA placed second by finishing with the fastest four-fault ride, 81.753 seconds, on Justice.

Later that day, Engle took the top two places in the Lake Placid Resort North American League (NAL) Speed Stake. She won the class by finishing the 12-jump course with a time of 69.016 seconds on Hidden Creek’s Charlie Brown. She also placed second with a time of 71.385 seconds on Camille.

The day’s final entry, Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, NJ, actually beat Engle’s two leading times, finishing in 68.458 seconds on Copper Twist, but a rail down at fence 6 added four penalty seconds and dropped her to third place with an adjusted score of 72.458 seconds. The Lake Placid Resort NAL Speed Stake is a member event of the North American League and points earned in the class count toward qualifying for the NAL Championship at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, PA in October.

July 4 Classes

Ward won the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Speed Challenge and Engle won the Nicola’s Restaurants Open Jump-off, the featured classes on July 4.

Ward was one of only three entries from the field of 19 in the Speed Challenge to finish the 14-jump, one-round course at the North Elba Showgrounds without penalty. His time of 67.657 seconds on Peter was the day’s fastest, giving him the win. Second place went to Chapot who finished in 69.554 seconds on Sprite and Candice King of Wellington, FL was third with a time of 77.569 seconds on Casadora.

In the Nicola’s Restaurants Open Jump-off, Engle claimed the top two positions on Julius and Nobility respectively. The Sydney Olympic veteran had the fastest jump-off time of 29.053 seconds on Julius and the second fastest time of 30.554 seconds on Nobility. Kursinski finished third with a jump-off time of 31.074 seconds on Sincere.

Closing Events

The I Love New York Horse Show closed on Sunday, July 6 with two WIHS classes. Cindy McGrath won the Price Chopper Adult Amateur Jumper Classic and Hillary Dobbs won the WIHS Children’s Jumper Classic.

McGrath was one of eight entries from the field of 56 to reach the tiebreaking jump-off by riding without penalty over the 16-jump, first-round course. She then rode Euro Pass to the fastest fault-free ride over the seven-jump jump-off course, finishing with a time of 32.979 seconds to claim the win.

Dobbs, of Sussex, NJ, topped a field of 44 entries to win her class on Lucky Four. The daughter of CNN’s Lou Dobbs was one of 10 to reach the jump-off with a fault-free first-round ride. She completed the jump-off fault-free in 32.118 seconds to take the win.

Both of these Classics are member events of the WIHS Championship series and count as bonus points towards the Championships to be held at the Washington International Horse Show in October.

Fun for All

The I Love New York Horse Show also featured the crowd-pleasing 11th annual Doggie Costume Contest, sponsored by The Brown Dog Cafe and Wine Bar of Lake Placid and by Lonesome Landing of Saranac Lake. Top dog this year was "Dottie & Dandy," who was dressed up and paraded as Voyage through Neverland by owners Heather and Charlie Hooker.

Another horse show fan-favorite was the 16th Annual Horse Show Window Decorating Contest, a fun-spirited competition held in conjunction with the annual Lake Placid and I Love New York Horse Shows. The contest provides an artistic treat to visitors and strollers in Lake Placid during the two weeks of the horse shows.

The Adirondack Trading Company won the Lake Placid Horse Show Association’s Window Decorating Contest for the third consecutive year. Placing second in this year’s contest was The Market. Reflections Antiques took third place. Receiving honorable mention were The Bookstore Plus and The Bear Haus.

Sponsors of the 2003 Lake Placid and I Love New York Horse Shows included A&M Beverages, Inc., Adirondack Life, American Grandprix Association, Anonymous, Ariat International, Inc., Bayer Legend, Brandy Parfums, Inc., Budweiser/Anheuser Busch, Inc., C.M. Hadfield’s Saddlery, Inc., David R. Fowler Custom Tack Trunks, Der Dau Custom Made Boots & Shoes, Enterprise rent-a-car, Fox Run Ltd., Golden Arrow Hotel, Hermès, Hilton Lake Placid Resort, Jane Forbes Clark, Juliam Farm, Kiehl’s Since 1851, Lake Placid Resort, Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors’ Bureau, Lisa A. H. Cudahy, Lonesome Landing, M&M Mars, Mirror Lake Inn/The Cottage, McDonald’s of Lake Placid, Moss Communications, Nicola’s Family Restaurants, Barbara Nugent and Michael Bitterman, On a Fence Designs and Rentals, ORDA-Whiteface Mountain, The Country Saddler, The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc., Pin Oak Farm, Price Chopper, Red Kap Sales, Inc./CITGO, Salamander Farm, Sand Castle Farm/The Dammerman Family, Shamrock Ventures LLC, Sidelines, The Brown Dog Café & Wine Bar, The Hooker Family, The Levy Family, The Phelps School, The Phillips Family, Town of North Elba Park District, Trelawny Farm, Turtle Lane Farm, Unusual Silver, U.S. Olympic Spirit Stores, Wild Horse Winery and WPTZ News Channel 5.

The Lake Placid and I Love New York Horse Shows will return in 2004, running from June 30 through July 11.

For more information, including full 2003 Lake Placid Horse Show results, please visit www.lakeplacidhorseshow.com. or call the Lake Placid Horse Show Association at (518) 523-9625.