Capturing the top check in the $85,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix, sponsored by Audi of Lexington, was no easy feat for Aaron Vale. When nine of the original 44 starters in the class qualified for the jump-off, it came down to the wire.
Vale, riding Quidam’s Good Luck, had to chase down Charlie Jayne’s very speedy time to take the win.
Vale caught a good first fence, heading forward through the opening line where he stuck to the nine strides that Jayne did, finding a deep distance. After landing from the oxer, he did a very fast and long five strides to the vertical, clearing the line and gaining enough momentum to have spectators on the edge of their seats as he more than a second ahead of Jayne’s pace. He was able to clear the final efforts in 37.80 seconds, setting an untouchable time more than a second faster than Jayne.
“We didn’t come to canter around and look pretty, we were in it to win,” Vale said. “I knew Charlie has a quick time, and that he got everything the way he wanted for it to appear.
“The only thing: I got kind of tricked. I thought when I was walking the course that I could get eight strides from Fence 1 to 2 when I watched Charlie go, but somebody dissuaded me from that decision. I had a lot of momentum after doing the long five [strides], and he is a Thoroughbred-like galloper with a lot of foot speed. I could have done eight—it would have been smoother—but the momentum I had out of the five carried me over the next jumps. I had to get going. The big share of the prize money goes for first, so usually I like to try for that portion if it is possible.”
Quidam’s Good Luck is a 9-year-old who still has a few green moments, but Vale said that when the jumps stay in their cups, he can usually win the class.
Jayne and Valeska ended up in second with a clear effort in 39.29 seconds, while Andrew Welles and Boo van het Kastanjehof earned the third place in 39.61 seconds.
Richard Jeffery of Bournemouth, England, set an inviting course for the CSI** event at the Kentucky Horse Park. Vale said of the course, “Richard [Jeffery] is a master. I know he could only build to 1.45-meter specs, so his hands were tied a little bit, but he did a beautiful job with this class, as well as the Hagyard Classic on Thursday. I had just a green rail the other night with Quidam, but it was probably a blessing that I didn’t go in that jump-off. Everything works out the way it is supposed to. I may not have had the brain available tonight that I did for this class had I made it into that jump-off. We got the bigger purse, so it all worked out for us.”
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Jayne said, “It’s a little tough, the position that I drew going second in the jump-off out of nine. The footing is so fantastic here; we can really pick up some speed, and the class got quicker and quicker. I knew I needed a little luck on my side, but I thought she jumped fantastic. If anything, maybe at the end I took it a little conservative, and that’s where I could have made up the second and a half that Aaron caught me.”
After two years without hosting Fédération Equestre Internationale-recognized classes, the Kentucky Horse Park took the step to offer them again in an effort to help U.S. high performance riders earn FEI World Ranking points. Vale plans on staying through the second week of the Kentucky Spring series, Kentucky Spring Classic, where he will compete with his string of mounts in the CSI*** events.
“This is how the sport is going,” Vale said. “With the influx of foreigners, the way the world ranking list is working, I think that this is going to stick here in Lexington. There is enough depth of people who need it. It looks like there is enough support.”
Jayne agreed with Vale’s sentiments, “It’s fantastic having the FEI competition reinstated in Lexington. You know, going from last year at this time, where we had no FEI shows, to now competing in five weeks consecutive weeks of FEI events, you can’t beat that. Now we have the opportunity to stay in North America—I’m not planning on going to Europe this summer, there are options now. I just thank the Kentucky staff. I think this is great for the organizers and the riders; it was a win-win situation. A lot of new riders came here this year for FEI, and I’ve only heard good things.”
Juan Ortiz aboard D’Ulein van de Smeets and Jorge Matte with Perle du Marisas were the only others to jump double-clear, completing the night in the fourth and fifth place, respectively. Sixth place was awarded to Margie Engle and Royce, the fastest of the four-faulters.
The grand prix was held in memory of the late Mary Rena Murphy, one of the horse industries’ most influential people. She worked diligently to promote the Kentucky Horse Park and was a big influence upon the first hunter jumper shows at the venue. Her vision for an exhibitor-friendly competition at a world-class facility helped shape the Kentucky Horse Park into what it has become today.
