Darragh Kerins and Far West Dash to Acorn Hill Speed Win at 2005 Winter Equestrian Festival

Wellington, FL – February 11, 2005 - Under beautiful sunny skies but unseasonably cold temperatures, a field of 96 bundled up competitors went to the post in the $5000 Acorn Hill Speed Challenge on Friday afternoon at the 2005 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. The third week of the nine week long festival, the Kilkenny/ICH Internationale CSI 3*, saw morning temperatures dip to 42 degrees and rise only to an afternoon high of 57 degrees. A brisk 18 mph wind added to the chill factor.

Today’s Acorn Hill Speed Challenge was the third of eight classes offered during each week of the Winter Equestrian Festival and are part of the North American League Open Speed Challenge Series.

The format for the 1.40m Speed Challenge was Table II Section 1, Faults and Time in the First Round, or as it’s sometimes called, “fastest clear round.”

This week’s Internationale Ring course designer is Robert Ellis of Great Britain.

Riding out of the ninth spot in the starting order, Molly Ashe and Jane Clark’s Concerto set the early pace. The duo produced a fault free effort in a speedy time of 62.592 seconds.

Ashe lost the lead by the narrowest of margins when Ramiro Quintana and Carousel, owned by Mary B. Schwab, shaved 2/1000ths of a second off of her time. They took over the top spot as the electronic clocks caught them in 62.590 seconds.

Harry Gill’s Sasha, with rider Todd Minikus, were the only horse and rider combination to come even close to the two leaders through the next thirty five entries. Minikus breezed home with a clean round and a time of 63.315 seconds.

With almost three quarters of the big class complete, Quintana and Carousel lost their lead. 2000 Olympian Lauren Hough was next in the ring on a brand new ride. She was up on Lisa, owned by the Shalanno Farms. The duo looked as if they had been paired together forever. Hough never took back and streaked around the course in what appeared to be an unbeatable time of 60.334 seconds, 2.256 seconds faster than Carousel and Quintana.

There would, however, be three more challenges for the lead.

Hough’s Olympic teammate Margie Engle and Hidden Creek’s Charlie Brown were next and ended up just shy of the target time, tripping the timers in 60.730 seconds.

A sixth place finisher last year in the third Acorn Hill Speed Challenge, Heather Caristo’s Far West with Darragh Kerins, would challenge next. Kerins put in a flawless effort and when they raced across the finish line in 60.073 seconds, they had sealed the win, nosing out Hough and Lisa for the lead by .261 of a second.

Ramiro Quintana on his final mount, Labelle, owned by the Turnabout Farm offered up the final challenge. Labelle, who finished second in this class last year, would wind up third today, breaking the beams in 60.632 seconds.

Kerins knew that he’d have to be fast to win today. “I saw Lauren Hough go and she was very fast and then I saw Ramiro go and he was fast too,” chuckled Kerins. “So I talked with Norman Dello Joio right before I went in and we both thought that the one place I could catch up was by doing six and five down the far side and then take a real shot at the third to last fence and give it a run coming home,” he said.

Kerins said that he and Far West are becoming a real team. “I’ve been riding him for the last year. He was a great horse for me all last summer and he’s just getting back into the swing of things here in Florida,” said Kerins. “We’re starting him in the 1.40m and hopefully he’ll move up by the end of the circuit.”

With Lisa, Lauren Hough might have found a brand new show jumping partner. “Oh my gosh, she’s an amazing, amazing animal. She’s a fabulous horse and it looks like we’re a really good match. I think I’m gonna have a lot of fun with her,” Hough beamed. “She’s unbelievably careful and the faster you go the more careful she gets. You can tell, the minute she walks in the ring, that she really enjoys what she’s doing. Lisa came to me in October and we gave her about three months to get fit. She looked like a broodmare when she arrived from California,” Hough laughed. Is Lisa a potential Grand Prix horse? “I think at this point in her life she’s the winner in this ring in the 1.40m classes,” conceded Hough. “As a third horse for me in Europe or at the indoor speed classes, I think she’s pretty hard to beat.”

The 1pm, $20,000 1.50m Classic is the Saturday feature at the 2005 Winter Equestrian Festival. The main event is Sunday’s $50,000 Kilkenny/ICH Internationale Cup kicking off at 2pm.

Official Results-#1005–$5000 Acorn Hill Speed Challenge-Table II, Sec 1. – 02-11-05-Internationale Arena-NAL

• 1 – Far West, Darragh Kerins – 0/60.073
• 2 – Lisa, Lauren Hough – 0/60.334
• 3 – Labelle, Ramiro Quintano – 0/60.632
• 4 – Hidden Creek’s Charlie Brown, Margie Engle - 0/60.730
• 5 – Carousel, Ramiro Quintana - 0/62.590
• 6 – Concerto, Molly Ashe – 0/62.592
• 7 – Sasha, Todd Minikus – 0/63.315
• 8 – Firefly, Lauren Bass – 0/64.976
• 9 – Lalelu, Laurie Bucci – 0/65.995
• 10 – Popeye, Darragh Kerins – 0/67.135
• 11 – Eltonn, Laura Kraut – 0/68.201
• 12 – Intrepide du Valon, Alison Firestone – 0/69.976

The North American League (NAL) runs season-long series in six hunter and jumper divisions – Children’s Hunter, Children’s Jumper, Adult Hunter, Adult Jumper, Pony Jumper, and Open Jumper Speed. Each series culminates with a championship final at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, PA, in October. Riders need not be members of the NAL to compete in any qualifying classes, but only current members earn points toward year-end finals. For more information and a list of qualifying competitions for 2005, please visit the Ryegate Show Services website at www.Ryegate.com.

PHOTO CREDIT: Far West and Darragh Kerins win Acorn Hill Speed Challenge. Photo by Randi Muster.