Aaron Vale and Mobile U Race to Victory in $20,000 Bluegrass Classic at Kentucky Spring Classic Horse Show

Lexington, KY – May 20, 2006 –

For the second Saturday in a row, Aaron Vale and Mobile U turned on the afterburners and raced to an impressive victory at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Last week, in their first big class together, Vale and Mobile U took the top prize in the $15,000 Bluegrass Speed Derby. Today, the duo topped a jump-off field of six to win the $20,000 Bluegrass Classic, the main event at the Kentucky Spring Classic Horse Show.

Thirty-six starters took the field for today’s class, scored under USEF Table II, Sec 2 (a), Time First Jump-Off. The test was designed by Venezuela’s Leopoldo Palacios. Of the thirty-six that started, six went clear to qualify to jump again. Fourteen competitors had a single rail, seven picked up eight faults, and nine had twelve or more or were eliminated. Eight riders added time faults to the jumping fault totals.

Aaron Vale and Mobile U win the $20,000 Bluegrass Classic on Saturday at the Kentucky Spring Classic Horse Show at the Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. ©2006 Kenneth Kraus/PhelpsSports.com

Aaron Vale, with two of the six for the tiebreaker, returned first with Droxello, owned by Millstream, Inc. Vale rolled a rail for four faults and tripped the timers in 43.376 seconds to set the pace.  

Following Vale, Mauro Atzeri and Gregory Gingery’s Cokio Vitz scored eight faults in 45.923 seconds. Scott Lenkhart followed Atzeri’s ride with Impulsive, owned by Bennett Sport Horse. Lenkart also clipped a single rail, but his four fault time of 51.696 seconds moved him into second place behind Vale.

Two clean rounds followed in rapid fire succession. Paige Johnson and Salamander Farm’s Kadena R were flawless, coming home under the wire in 43.761 seconds to move to the top of the charts with only two to go. Danielle Torano and her new mount, Vancouver D’Auvery, owned by Sir Ruly Inc., were also perfect over the jump-off course; however, the duo fell just short of Johnson’s mark and moved into second place in 43.935 seconds.

Aaron Vale then had his second chance at the top prize as he returned with Sagamore Farms’ Mobile U. For the second Saturday in a row, this new pairing left the rest of the field in a cloud of dust. Vale caught a break when a hard rub by Mobile U failed to bring down the A element of the double combination, and following that good fortune, Vale turned it up into overdrive for the race to the wire. He whipped across the finish line in 40.518 seconds, a full 3.2 seconds faster than Johnson.

“Boy what a nice horse!” Vale exclaimed following his second Saturday win in a row. “I only got her about a week and a half before Kentucky started. So I really only had two little schools at home before coming here. She’s amazing!”

“It was a long course. You had a lot of yards to cover, and the time allowed was quite tight. So there was attrition. Pace over a long distance of time makes you have rails, so it was a difficult course to jump clean,” Vale explained. “The water, although not a huge issue, was early in the course. So you’ve got to kick hard early, and that gets their adrenaline up. With the water as the fourth or fifth jump on the course, you’ve got a long way to go to settle that adrenaline down and keep the horse focused on the rails.

Leopoldo’s tricky,” smiled Vale. “He put the liverpool behind the vertical at the last fence and that caught a lot of them. A number of riders had clean rounds till the last jump. He makes it tricky from start to finish. He builds thinking riders’ courses.”

Vale said he had a chance to map out his winning ride by using his first go as a measuring stick. “I went early on my young horse [Droxello] and had a rail in about 43 seconds. I didn’t see Paige go, but I knew she was in about the same time as the horse I had already ridden,” he detailed. “Mobile U just seems to be a really quick horse, so I just tried to take it easy and get through that first double. She’s a little green to turn back too quickly to a combination like that. And she did get a little lucky there with a hard rub. But after that, I just let her run home over the last two fences. She’s got great natural foot speed, so that made up the difference quite easily.”

Sunday’s main event at the Kentucky Spring Classic Horse Show is the $50,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix, CSI 3*, a member event of the American Grand Prix Association (AGA) tour.

Results of Class 230 $20,000 Bluegrass Derby Table II, Sec 2(a)-Kentucky Spring Classic-Johnson Arena-5/20/06

1 1519 AARON VALE MOBILE U 0.00 85.669 0.00 40.518 SAGAMORE FARMS
2 868 PAIGE JOHNSON KADENA R 0.00 86.837 0.00 43.761 SALAMANDER FARM
3 465 DANIELLE TORANO VANCOUVER D' AUVREY 0.00 87.064 0.00 43.935 SIR RULY INC
4 549 AARON VALE DROXELLO 0.00 88.340 4.00 43.376
5 1065 SCOTT LENKART IMPULSIVE 0.00 84.630 4.00 51.696 BENNETT SPORT HORSE
6 330 MAURO ATZERI COKIO VITZ 0.00 87.510 8.00 45.923 GREGORY GINGERY
7 947 ANGELA MOORE LAND BARON 4 4.00 82.354 STEALAWAY FARM
8 294 ERIC FLAMENG TOM BOY MAJOR 4.00 84.063 MARC SABBAH
9 1583 ELIZA SHUFORD B.C.O. OLYMP 4.00 84.713 ELIZA SHUFORD
10 470 NICOLE SIMPSON MARLO 4.00 84.781 TORANO AND SIR RULY INC
11 992 TODD MINIKUS ELTON 4.00 85.438 TRACEY TOPPING
12 866 PAIGE JOHNSON PANDUR 292 4.00 85.750 SALAMANDER FARM

Young Jumpers at the Kentucky Spring Classic Horse Show

In the Walnut Arena, the Five Year Old Jumpers were held under a Table V, Section 2(b) Optimum Time format. The Jump-Off Time Allowed was 50 seconds, with an optimum time of 46 seconds. A pool of 22 entries participated over the course designed by Richard Jeffery of Great Britain. Lisa Jacquin and Talisman, owned by Trestle Tree Farm and BDJ Enterprises of Chester, NY, were the closest to the optimum time after finishing the jump-off course in 45.828 seconds. Second place was awarded to Lee Hatcher and her mount Too Much, who stopped the clock in 45.737 seconds. Third place honors went to Robin Sweely and Corolato, owned by Acorn Hill Farm of Middleburg, VA. Sweely and Corolato broke the beam in 46.385 seconds.

The Six Year Old Jumper class, held under a Table II, Section 2(b) Time First Jump-Off format, had 24 entries compete and was won by Aaron Vale and Noble Carthago, owned by Paxton Mendelssohn of Aiken, SC. Vale and his mount, who also won yesterday’s 1.30m class, clocked in at 30.353 seconds over the short course. Kristen Vanderveen and A.Maze, owned by Bull Run Farm in Elburn, IL, finished in second place with a jump-off time of 30.661 seconds. With a time of 30.940 seconds, David Jennings aboard Eso ranked in third place. Eso is owned by Amy Lefferdink from Loxahatchee, FL.

In the Seven and Eight Year Old Jumper class, 27 riders competed in the class. Joe Fargis took over the top spot during his round, which was the final ride over the Table II, Section 2(b) Time First Jump Off course. Fargis and his mount Elaine, owned by Cynthia Johnson, blazed around the jump-off in 29.345 seconds and edged Michael Kearins, who had a time of 30.899 seconds, into second place. Kearins resides in Lake Worth, FL, and piloted his own horse Nas Na. Third place went to Todd Minikus and Lamborghini, who crossed the finish line in 31.450 seconds. Lamborghini is owned by Mordechay Shahak of Wellington, FL.

Jumper action in the Walnut Ring continues tomorrow with the Junior and Amateur-Owner Classics, the Children’s and Adult Jumper Classics.

Results of Class 216 - YJC 5 YEAR OLD JUMPER V, SEC 2(B)- Kentucky Spring Classic- Walnut Ring -5/20/06

1 540 AARON VALE BARTOLI VAN'T MERELSNEST 0.00 67.394 0.00 44.252 $300 MILLSTREAM INC
2 1557 WILHELM GENN COHIBA 0.00 69.856 0.00 44.317 $200 WILHELM GENN & GOERGIA RA
3 1353 LEE HATCHER TOO MUCH 0.00 70.941 0.00 45.737 $150 LEE HATCHER
4 445 LISA JACQUIN TALISMAN 0.00 66.386 0.00 45.828 $100 TRESTLE TREE FARM AND BDJ
5 1210 ROBIN SWEELY COROLATO 0.00 67.925 0.00 46.385 $70 ACORN HILL FARM
6 1275 MICHAEL KEARINS HIDDEN CREEK'S SHADOW 0.00 68.510 0.00 46.395 $65 HIDDEN CREEK FARM
7 792 MARILYN LITTLE UTOPIA 0.00 69.605 0.00 47.453 $60 RAYLYN FARMS
8 1344 EMILY WILLIAMS CUERVO 0.00 65.674 0.00 47.677 $55 EMILY WILLIAMS
9 442 LISA JACQUIN SNAPPY 0.00 66.923 0.00 47.705 BDJ ENTERPRISES AND MICHA
10 889 JOE FARGIS ISABELLA 0.00 66.488 0.00 48.363 SANDRON
11 541 AARON VALE BALDATO VAN'T MERELSNEST 0.00 68.202 0.00 48.731 MILLSTREAM INC
12 388 DAVID BEISEL BRISCO 0.00 67.684 4.00 48.887 AUTUMN FARMS

Results of Class 217 - YJC 6 YEAR OLD II, SEC 2(B) - Kentucky Spring Classic – Walnut Ring – 5/20/06

1 544 AARON VALE NOBLE CARTHAGO 0.00 59.677 0.00 30.353 $300 PAXTON MENDELSSOHN
2 1504 KRISTEN VANDERVEEN A.MAZE 0.00 57.750 0.00 30.661 $200 BULL RUN FARM
3 1156 DAVID JENNINGS ESO 0.00 58.813 0.00 30.940 $150 AMY LEFFERDINK
4 551 ALEJANDRO CESPEDES H.S. COUNTRY BOY 0.00 58.120 0.00 32.091 $100 DANIELA'S STABLES
5 444 LISA JACQUIN AMIS DE KANNAN 0.00 57.817 0.00 32.626 $70 TRESTLE TREE FARM
6 57 SHANE 0.00 59.352 0.00 33.298 $65 TEQUESTRIAN FARMS LLC
7 543 AARON VALE CAVALIER FOREVER 0.00 58.042 0.00 34.150 $60 MILLSTREAM INC
8 1560 WILHELM GENN LACANTUS 0.00 61.645 0.00 34.201 $55 MOLLY KINDNISS
9 1561 WILHELM GENN LOREDO 0.00 62.650 0.00 34.533 MICAELA KENNEDY & DR. PAT
10 817 SCHUYLER RILEY UNDINE 0.00 59.727 0.00 35.630 TURTLE HALL FARM PARTNERS
11 757 PETER PLETCHER CONNARDO M Z 0.00 63.183 0.00 36.990 GRAY WOLF FARM
12 189 DEBBIE STEPHENS CHAPEAU Z 0.00 60.241 0.00 37.550 DEBBIE STEPHENS & STEVE S

Results of Class 218 - YJC 7/8 YEAR OLD II, SEC 2(B) - Kentucky Spring Classic –Walnut Ring -5/20/06

1 877 JOE FARGIS ELAINE 0.00 68.118 0.00 29.345 $300 CYNTHIA JOHNSON
2 1279 MICHAEL KEARINS NAS NA 0.00 69.747 0.00 30.899 $200 MICHAEL KEARINS
3 1312 TODD MINIKUS LAMBORGHINI 0.00 70.823 0.00 31.450 $150 MORDECHAY SHAHAK
4 1512 AARON VALE JAMES T. KIRK 0.00 69.422 0.00 31.523 $100 ABIGAIL ELIZABETH WALKER
5 894 TRACEY WEINBERG NAOMI 174 0.00 69.335 0.00 31.702 $70 TRACEY WEINBERG & THE WEI
6 1477 NICOLE SIMPSON 7-UP 0.00 70.201 0.00 31.806 $65 DANIELLE TORANO AND JIMMY
7 887 JOE FARGIS OLIVIA 0.00 71.176 0.00 31.850 $60 ALLEN RICHARDS
8 1480 JIMMY TORANO WILUNA DE MUZE 0.00 72.263 0.00 31.916 $55 JIMMY TORANO
9 1073 JONATHAN MCCREA VALENTINO 0.00 69.285 0.00 32.340 CANDY TRIBBLE & WINDSOR S
10 872 JOE FARGIS CINZANO Z 0.00 71.982 0.00 34.918 SALAMANDER FARM
11 72 AARON VALE CHERRY CHIKITA 0.00 69.781 7.00 42.181 BARGEE FARMS AND BARBARA
12 966 ROBERT KRAUT ACCORDIAN 4.00 66.067 PETER WETHERILL

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