Aaron Vale Rolls On with Win on Mobile U in $15,000 Bluegrass Derby at Kentucky Spring Horse Show

Lexington, KY – May 13, 2006 –

Aaron Vale, one of the most successful show jumping riders in United States history, continues to pour it on at the Kentucky Spring Horse Show in Lexington this week. His latest triumph, his seventh win of the week, came on Saturday morning in the demanding $15,000 Bluegrass Derby.

Richard Jeffery of Great Britain is this week’s Course Designer, and today he set his traditional Derby course for the Saturday morning feature. “We use the same course every year,” said Jeffery. “I think people really look forward to jumping some of the natural obstacles in this event.” The course consisted of seventeen numbered obstacles and nineteen jumping efforts.

Scoring for the $15,000 Bluegrass Derby was USEF Table III, Faults Converted Into Seconds, with four seconds added for each knockdown. Twenty-nine hopefuls went to the post for the 10am start.

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Patton’s Conquest II, a past winner of this event with Olympic Gold Medalist Beezie Madden at the controls, grabbed the early lead today. Riding out of the fifth slot in the starting order, the duo stayed at the top of the charts through a majority of the class. Madden toured the course in 89.737 seconds, with no penalty seconds added on.

Aaron Vale and Mobile U down the bank in the $15,000 Bluegrass Derby. Photo: ©2006 Jennifer Wood/PhelpsSports.com

Three challengers, Todd Minikus on Elton, owned by Tracy Topping, Timbuktu, owned by Emily Zand and ridden by Peter Leone, and Serval Group’s Serval, piloted by Aaron Vale, all saw their potentially winning times increased by four seconds for a single knockdown.

Madden was finally unseated when Aaron Vale, riding out of the twenty-seventh spot in the twenty-nine horse field, tripped the timers in an amazing 86.278 seconds, a shocking 3.4 seconds faster than Madden. Vale’s win came aboard Mobile U, owned by the Sagamore Farms.

Vale had a chance to watch Madden go and had time to figure out his personal game plan for victory. “She put in a real good, fast round. She was quite quick everywhere,” he said. “I’m not sure where I made up the time exactly, maybe just a little bit everywhere on the course.” Then he added, “I think my route up to and then down the bank was a lot quicker than most riders.”

“This is one of those classes you look forward to every year. You read the Kentucky Spring Horse Show prize list, you see the Derby, and you start thinking if you might have a horse or two that might have a good chance in the class,” said Vale. “It’s a classic, old-time class. Richard [Jeffery] sets the same track every year, and it’s really a lot of fun. Actually, the rain we’ve had this week and the muddy, sloppy conditions almost add a little nostalgia to it,” he smiled. “It was a lot of fun galloping around out there.”

Was the footing an issue today? “Not really. The sand was perfect, and even the grass on the bank was in good shape,” Vale noted. “I was very aggressive turning on the grass, and if the footing’s bad, that’s where you’re normally going to slip, but it didn’t happen out there today. So, the footing wasn’t a factor.”

Vale talked about his new partnership with today’s winner Mobile U. “It’s a new horse for me. It belongs to Debbie Dolan and Sagamore Farm. I got her about three weeks ago. We had a few training rides at home, jumped the 1.30m the first day, the 1.40m the second day with a good ribbon, and then she won the 1.45m yesterday. She’s a classy, classy horse,” he said. “Today, anytime anything was a little questionable, she just tried that much harder and made up the difference.”

Vale will try and keep his winning streak alive on Sunday with Artur 28, in the $50,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix, the main event for the Kentucky Spring Horse Show.

Results Class 229 $15,000 Bluegrass Derby, Table III - Kentucky Spring – Johnson Arena – 5/13/06
1 1519 AARON VALE MOBILE U 0.00 0.00 86.278 86.278 SAGAMORE FARMS
2 1130 BEEZIE MADDEN CONQUEST II 0.00 0.00 89.737 89.737 M/M JOHN PATTON
3 550 AARON VALE SERVAL 4.00 0.00 87.307 91.307 SERVAL GROUP
4 1334 PETER LEONE TIMBUKTU 4.00 0.00 87.797 91.797 EMILY ZAND
5 467 NICOLE SIMPSON RALVESTHER 0.00 0.00 92.753 92.753 SCNC INVESTMENTS
6 992 TODD MINIKUS ELTON 4.00 0.00 89.636 93.636 TRACEY TOPPING
7 1184 PABLO BARRIOS NICE TO SEE YOU 0.00 0.00 94.368 94.368 PABLO BARRIOS
8 971 NIALL GRIMES PIM 4.00 0.00 90.685 94.685 GEOFF SUTTON
9 1198 GEORGINA BLOOMBERG LUMINA 2 4.00 0.00 91.125 95.125 GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES LLC
10 1076 JONATHEN MCCREA PRIMO 0.00 0.00 97.484 97.484 CANDY TRIBBLE & WINDSOR S
11 187 DEBBIE STEPHENS CHAPPIE 0.00 0.00 98.100 98.100 CENTENNIAL FARM
12 366 AARON VALE FEMME FATALE 8.00 0.00 90.665 98.665 GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES LLC
YOUNG JUMPER RESULTS

Results of Class 216 - YJC 5 Year Olds Sec 2(b) - Kentucky Spring Horse Show –Walnut Ring – 5/13/06
1 889 JOE FARGIS ISABELLA 0.00 71.673 0.00 32.820 $300 SANDRON
2 878 CYNTHIA JOHNSON FARDELA 0.00 70.906 0.00 33.320 $200 CYNTHIA JOHNSON
3 541 AARON VALE BALDATO VAN'T MERELSNEST 0.00 72.884 0.00 33.638 $150 MILLSTREAM INC
4 882 JOE FARGIS LARIAT 0.00 69.684 0.00 34.854 $100 SANDRON
5 792 MARILYN LITTLE UTOPIA 0.00 68.423 0.00 34.871 $70 RAYLYN FARMS
6 1276 MICHAEL KEARINS HIDDEN CREEK'S LIONEL 0.00 73.379 0.00 35.121 $65 HIDDEN CREEK FARM
7 1344 EMILY WILLIAMS CUERVO 0.00 69.665 0.00 35.351 $60 EMILY WILLIAMS
8 540 AARON VALE BAROLI VAN'T MERELSNEST 0.00 73.097 0.00 35.686 $55 MILLSTREAM INC
9 1275 MICHAEL KEARINS HIDDEN CREEK'S SHADOW 0.00 71.929 0.00 35.844 HIDDEN CREEK FARM
10 1138 BEEZIE MADDEN STREETWISE 0.00 77.200 0.00 37.910 M/M JOHN PATTON
11 442 LISA JACQUIN SNAPPY 0.00 70.875 1.00 38.737 BDJ ENTERPRISES AND MICHA
12 1144 MIEKE BOSMA URAME 0.00 76.304 3.00 40.612 OAKWOOD STABLES

Results of Class 217 - YJC 6 Year Old II, Sec 2(b) -Kentucky Spring Horse Show –Walnut Ring – 5/13/06
1 551 ALEJANDRO CESPEDES H.S. COUNTRY BOY 0.00 66.533 0.00 36.716 $300 DANIELA'S STABLES
2 1133 BEEZIE MADDEN DANNY BOY 0.00 67.520 0.00 37.826 $200 ABIGAIL WEXNER
3 438 LISA JACQUIN SKYS THE LIMIT 0.00 70.382 0.00 38.377 $150 FLINTWOODE FARMS LLC
4 817 SCHUYLER RILEY UNDINE 0.00 70.811 0.00 38.579 $100 TURTLE HALL FARM PARTNERS
5 1131 BEEZIE MADDEN CREME BRULE 0.00 68.766 0.00 38.934 $70 ABIGAIL WEXNER
6 385 NIALL GRIMES MR. T 0.00 70.540 0.00 40.141 $65 MONOMOY FARM
7 1486 RORY GRANT LARGO 203 0.00 72.037 0.00 43.488 $60 BETSY GREEN
8 189 DEBBIE STEPHENS CHAPEAU Z 0.00 69.896 1.00 45.667 $55 CENTENNIAL FARM
9 1527 NIALL GRIMES BERKELEY 0.00 67.262 4.00 36.756 LESLIE CARTER
10 1156 DAVID JENNINGS ESO 0.00 68.858 4.00 37.178 AMY LEFFERDINK
11 544 AARON VALE NOBLE CARTHAGO 0.00 71.815 4.00 37.740 PAXTON MENDELSSOHN
12 444 LISA JACQUIN AMIS DE KANNAN 0.00 67.952 4.00 39.433 TRESTLE TREE FARM

Results of Class 218 - YJC 7/8 Year Olds II, Sec 2(b) - Kentucky Spring Horse Show – Walnut Ring – 5/13/-06
1 1477 NICOLE SIMPSON 7-UP 0.00 68.810 0.00 37.981 $300 DANIELLE TORANO AND JIMMY
2 1134 BEEZIE MADDEN ONLIGHT 0.00 67.368 0.00 38.182 $200 TEAM ONLIGHT
3 1306 TODD MINIKUS REAMINO 3 0.00 71.856 0.00 38.265 $150 TODD MINIKUS LTD
4 316 0.00 74.180 0.00 39.143 $100
5 439 LISA JACQUIN GRACE 0.00 68.293 0.00 41.020 $70 M/M MICHAEL KENNEDY
6 1136 BEEZIE MADDEN SELECT 0.00 68.881 0.00 42.269 $65 ELIZABETH BUSCH BURKE & J
7 1003 CARA RAETHER TALLULAH 0.00 73.281 0.00 42.950 $60 TRELAWNY FARM
8 1336 PETER LEONE TUVALU 0.00 68.603 4.00 36.289 $55 ALLISON FINGER
9 1512 AARON VALE JAMES T. KIRK 0.00 70.161 4.00 38.919 MILLSTREAM INC
10 872 JOE FARGIS CINZANO Z 0.00 71.122 4.00 40.310 SALAMANDER FARM
11 877 JOE FARGIS ELAINE 0.00 67.826 4.00 44.618 CYNTHIA JOHNSON
12 1478 NICOLE SIMPSON SIR NEEL 0.00 68.329 8.00 40.121 DANIELLE TORANO AND JIMMY

THE KENTUCKY SPRING HORSE SHOWS: http://www.kentuckyhorseshows.com/