Posted February 11, 2006

Ramiro Quintana Goes Wire to Wire to Win Acorn Hill Speed Challenge at Winter Equestrian Festival

Wellington, FL – February 10, 2006 – The third week of equestrian action is in high gear at the thirty-fourth annual Winter Equestrian Festival, the nation’s largest and longest equestrian showcase. Friday’s feature was the Acorn Hill 1.40m Speed Challenge, divided into two sections because of the huge turnout.

On a day in which he made headlines in the sports section of La Palma, Palm Beach County’s Spanish language newspaper, Ramiro Quintana of Argentina went wire to wire to win the first section of the Acorn Hill Challenge, topping a field of fifty-six competitors.

The Acorn Hill Speed Challenge, a North American League (NAL) event, was scored under Table II, Sec 2.1, Time First Round. The Internationale Arena Course Designer this week is Great Britain’s Robert J. Ellis.

Fourteen starters produced clear rounds in the speed class with Quintana and Carousel, owned by Mary B. Schwab, setting an unbeatable pace as the first to go. Quintana clocked in at 61.815 seconds and everybody tried to play catch up from that point on. But try was all they could do as not one of the remaining fifty-five riders could actually gather in that blistering pace.

Margie Engle and Hidden Creek’s Charlie Brown, riding out of the forty-eighth spot in the order, was the closest. Her time of 63.078 seconds was still 1.26 seconds shy of Quintana’s top time. “I’m surprised it held up really,” Quintana admitted following his wire to wire win. “With that many, like sixty in the class, going first rarely works out. I was hoping for maybe a third place finish when I left the ring.”

“I was lucky,” said a smiling Quintana. “Everything from the first fence on came right out of stride. I did the right numbers that I had planned to do. I did eight from one to two, then the seven to three and I did five to four, but I was very lucky that everything showed up right out of stride.”

Then he spoke of his long time speed partner. “I know my horse Carousel very well. She’s a great horse, she’s very fast, and I have tremendous confidence in her. I’ve had her since she was eight years old and she’s fourteen now, so I know her inside and out,” Quintana asserted.

Coincidentally, Quintana was featured on the front page of the Sports section of the Friday edition of La Palma, Palm Beach County’s Spanish language newspaper. “That was perfect timing,” laughed Quintana. “The paper wrote a very nice feature about me and it appeared in today’s paper, and said some very nice things. I was glad I could come through following that,” he said.

In the B section of today’s Acorn Hill Speed Challenge, Scott Lenkart and Impulsive got by Laura Chapot and Sprite for the victory. For three-time WEF Circuit Champion Sprite and Chapot, this was their third consecutive second place finish on the 2006 tour.

Results of Class 1005A Acorn Hill Speed Challenge Table II, Sec 1-2-10-06- KILKENNY/ICH INTERNATIONALE CSI 3*

• 1 142 RAMIRO QUINTANA CAROUSEL 0.00 61.815 $1850 MARY B. SCHWAB
• 2 2379 ROWN MARGIE ENGLE HIDDEN CREEK'S CHARLIE B 0.00 63.078 $1200 HIDDEN CREEK FARM
• 3 2345 DARRAGH KERINS EXTRAORINAIRE 0.00 64.991 $635 SARAH PANKOSKY
• 4 3542 PETER LEONE OLIVIER 0.00 66.863 $400 LIONSHARE FARM
• 5 2918 JONATHON MILLAR EURO BOY 0.00 68.512 $325 ALEXIS BAIKIE
• 6 1499 HOLLY ORLANDO GREAT PLEASURE 0.00 68.655 $275 SCOTT HAKIM
• 7 2926 ELLEN HOLTGERS LORIANA 0.00 69.727 $275 GUT EINHAUS LLC
• 8 1922 LAURA BOWERY PALONA 0.00 69.982 $250 JOSEPH DIMENNA
• 9 949 ELIZA SHUFORD GUSTEL II 0.00 70.925 $250 ELIZA SHUFORD
• 10 2575 HENRI PRUDENT HUMOUR DU PARC 0.00 71.305 $180 PLAIN BAY FARM
• 11 2086 CHRIS KAPPLER PELE 0.00 73.053 $180 EQUI SPORT LLC
• 12 337 ROBIN SWEELY TINKAS LAD 0.00 74.730 $180 ACORN HILL FARM

Results of Class 1005B Acorn Hill Speed Challenge Table II, Sec. 1-Internationale Arena -2-10-06-KILKENNY/ICH INTERNATIONALE CSI 3*

• 1 1146 SCOTT LENKART IMPULSIVE 0.00 58.720 $1850 BENNETT SPORT HORSE
• 2 2703 LAURA CHAPOT SPRITE 0.00 59.044 $1200 LAURA CHAPOT
• 3 135 MARGIE ENGLE CANAILLE 0.00 59.830 $635 WYNDHURST STABLES
• 4 1444 CAITLYN SHIELS HOUSTON 0.00 60.132 $400 CAITLYN SHIELS
• 5 32 ANNE KURSINSKI LORENZO 0.00 61.677 $325 MARKET STREET
• 6 645 MARK LEONE MR HAPPY 0.00 63.086 $275 MEGHAN MORAN
• 7 2776 JIMMY TORANO MARLO 0.00 63.607 $275 JIMMY TORANO
• 8 557 ALAN KOROTKIN ROCKETMAN 0.00 64.161 $250 JULIE AITKEN
• 9 2555 JONATHON MILLAR VASCO VAN WESTEUR 0.00 64.920 $250 FRANK HIGHLEY
• 10 1923 LAURA BOWERY INDY STAR II 0.00 65.446 $180 JOSEPH DIMENNA
• 11 984 JEFFERY WELLES SAMPRAS 0.00 66.626 $180 ABIGAIL S. WEXNER
• 12 182 KIMBERLY PRINCE CARNIVALE 0.00 70.427 $180 OVERLOOK FARM

The North American League (NAL) runs season-long series in six hunter-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, a list of qualifying competitions and results, please see the Ryegate Show Services website at www.Ryegate.com.

PHOTO CREDIT: Carousel and Ramiro Quintana Win Acorn Hill Challenge at WEF. Photo by Kenneth Kraus/PhelpsSports.com