Lexington, KY – May 23, 2010 – The final day of the Kentucky Spring Classic began with another exciting win for Cara Raether. She rode Lyoneell to a beautiful double-clear finish in the $20,000 Bluegrass Classic and took home the first place prize. The class began at 8 a.m. with 36 competitors in the Main Stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park, host of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™. Pablo Barrios was the only other rider to go clear aboard Flash and earned the second place honors, while Lauren Crooks had the fastest four-fault effort with Cincinnati La Silla for the third place ribbon.

Conrad Homfeld has designed the courses in the Main Stadium this week, and he laid out another excellent track for the riders this morning. The first round had 16 jumping efforts that included a water jumper, a liverpool, a double combination, and a triple combination. Eight riders were able to complete clear efforts and advance to the jump-off. They had to begin over a tall vertical at the end of the ring, make a left turn to a large oxer and gallop on a bending line to a single vertical. Riders then had to make a right turn to a single oxer before making a left turn to the vertical-oxer double combinations. Riders finished by making a sharp left turn to slice a vertical and gallop to the timers over a large oxer towards the gate.

Cara Raether was the first rider to complete a fault-free first round with Lyonell, owned by Trelawny Farm, and qualify to compete in the jump-off. The pair was focused on the task at hand when they entered the ring to blaze the trail during the short course. They took sharp turns and Lyonell was fast and accurate over all the fences. They crossed the finish line in 38.091 seconds with all the rails in their cups, setting the standard that would eventually win them the blue ribbon.

Pablo Barrios was able to advance to the short course with Flash after a flawless first round effort. Although he is often known for his speedy rounds in the jump-off, Barrios chose to be conservative with the young mount that he is preparing to become a grand prix horse. Flash was very careful not to touch any rails and stopped the clock at 40.892 seconds without any faults, earning the second place award.

“Flash has only been doing the 8-Year-Old Jumpers throughout the winter, but I decided to move him up this week,” explained Barrios. “I am very pleased with this horse, this was his first big class and he did great. I think he is going to become a grand prix horse but it takes time and we have enough good horses now that we do not have to push him. We will give him a little time, let him learn, and see if we have a good grand prix horse for next year.”

Four horse and rider combinations were able to complete the jump-off with just four faults. Reed Kessler was the first to do so with Mika, who had an unfortunate rail at the second obstacle. Their time of 38.194 was good enough for fourth place. Megan Fellows had an excellent effort with Miss Liberty 7 but they accrued faults at the first fence in the combination for the fifth place honors.

Lauren Crooks had the fastest jump-off time of 37.665 seconds with Cincinnati La Silla, owned by Glenn Youell. The duo had an unlucky rail at the final fence, which moved them to the third place position in the final standings. Barrios took another chance at the short course as the final rider to show with his second mount, Blanchee Z, owned by G & C Farm, Gustavo and Carolina Mirabel.  They pulled off the rail on the back of the oxer in the combination for four faults resulting in a time of 39.981 seconds, earning the sixth place ribbon.

Yesterday, Raether and Ublesco tied for first with Todd Minikus and Pavarotti during the $55,000 Rena Murphy Grand Prix, sponsored by Audi of Lexington. She was thrilled to have ended her stay in Kentucky on such an excellent note after winning today’s class as well. “It feels great,” she smiled. “It was a nice way to end the show and really nice to win both classes.”

Raether was very pleased with Lyonell’s performance as she begins to move him up. “He is nine years old and he is just starting to move up,” she commented. “I took him to Europe last summer and that really helped him grow up. Now he is starting to step-up, and he is a very smooth, good jumper.”

“This was a really great confidence builder and it is nice to feel like he is stepping up now so I can start using him in bigger classes and be competitive,” continued Raether, who had to compete first in the jump-off. “We walked some numbers and I just tried to stay with the numbers and go as fast as he was going to let me go and see what happens.”

The pair will now travel to Europe to compete. Raether qualified for the United States Equestrian Team Long List and will compete in the Nations Cup at Falsterboro with Ublesco. She will also show Lyonell while she is there helping him continue to gain experience.  

Today marked the final day of competition at the Kentucky Spring Classic. Later this year Kentucky Horse Shows, LLC will host the Kentucky Summer Horse Shows and the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. The Kentucky Summer Horse Show will kick-off the series and will be held from July 28-August 1, 2010. As the competition continues, the Kentucky Summer Classic will get underway on August 4, 2010, and be run through August 8, 2010. The Bluegrass Festival Horse Show is set to be held August 18 – 22, 2010.

For more information about the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows or the Kentucky Summer Horse Shows please go to www.kentuckyhorseshows.com.