Leslie Burr-Howard and Quadam won the $40,000 PA Big Jump CSI3* by 1/100th of a second on Thursday at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show.
Harrisburg, Pa. – Oct. 20, 2016 – A centennial theme carried throughout Thursday evening’s highlight jumper event at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Winner of the 2015 $85,000 Grand Prix de Penn National, Leslie Burr-Howard of the United States, edged out Ireland’s Daniel Coyle by 1/100th of a second to take the win in the $40,000 PA Big Jump CSI3* aboard Quadam on Thursday, which also happened to be Howard’s mother’s 100th birthday.
“That was close, huh?!” said Howard. “Doesn’t get any closer than that! This is very exciting. The horse is a lovely horse. She’s won a couple of grand prix events this year. I just started the ride in May.
“My mom is 100 years old today!” continued Howard. “She’s watching so this will be a good birthday present for her. We’re planning to have a big party on Sunday when I get home, which I’m looking forward to a lot!”
Thirty-six international horse and rider combinations turned out for Thursday’s FEI competition, and only 11 jumped clean over the first-round course designed by Bernardo Costa Cabral. The tiebreaker went on to be a battle between the fighting Irish and the United States to claim the top prize.
Andrew Kocher and Le Conte
Andrew Kocher (USA), winner of Wednesday’s $10,000 Dash for the Cash Open Jumper Speed class, was the second to attempt the short track and the first to jump double-clear aboard his own Le Conte in 37.81 seconds. However, his early lead would not hold throughout the remainder of the jump-off and his time would prove to be the slowest of the double-clear finishers, garnering him fifth place at the end of the night.
Two rounds later, Beezie Madden (USA) stepped up to the plate and laid down a faultless performance with Abigail Wexner’s Coach. The pair crossed the finish line in 34.77 seconds to move ahead of Kocher, yet their time would also not be enough for a top three finish. The duo eventually grabbed fourth place for their efforts.
Beezie Madden and Coach
Howard followed Madden and really set the pace to beat with Quadam, owned by Laure Sudreau. Howard and the 10-year-old Hanoverian stallion powered around the jump-off with exceptional speed, stopping the timers in 33.09 seconds to take over the top spot on the leaderboard.
Kevin Babington and Shorapur
Kevin Babington (IRL) and Shorapur, owned by Shorapur LLC, were up next to try and best Howard’s lead, however their double-clear time of 34.63 seconds would go on to be good enough for third place.
Fellow Irishman, Coyle, and Susan Grange’s Ridley trailed Babington and came the closest to catching Howard’s unbeatable pace, successfully executing a sharp inside turn to a double combination in an attempt to save some time, but just barely missed the winning mark by 1/100th of a second in 33.10 seconds for second place honors. Coyle returned to the New Holland Arena with his second mount qualified for the jump-off, Fortis Fortuna, owned by Susan and Ariel Grange, as last in the order-of-go. He followed the same path as with his first mount and was on pace to beat Howard, but an unlucky rail at the last fence cost him the win.
Daniel Coyle and Ridley
“The last horse did that inside turn — I did look at that but I didn’t think I had to do that to win,” said Howard. “I didn’t think [Daniel] was going to try it to win and then he did try it, but had the rail down. He got unlucky and I got lucky.”
Howard has Olympic gold and silver medals to her name, amongst a lengthy list of other impressive accomplishments. She piloted Gentille Van Spieveld to win the coveted Grand Prix de Penn National for the first time, since first competing in the class in 1979, in 2015. She and Gentille Van Spieveld will be competing in the $100,000 Grand Prix de Penn National once again on Saturday in hopes of claiming the title for the second consecutive year.
“Saturday I’m defending my title with the same horse from last year, which I’m really looking forward to,” said Howard. “Quadam is done for the week and will be going to Washington next week.”
Results: $40,000 PA Big Jump CSI3*
1 123 QUADAM Leslie Burr-Howard (USA) Laure Sudreau 0 61.16 0 33.09
2 31 RIDLEY Daniel Coyle (IRL) Susan Grange 0 67.92 0 33.10
3 48 SHORAPUR Kevin Babington (IRL) Shorapur LLC 0 62.92 0 34.63
4 112 COACH Elizabeth Madden (USA) Abigail Wexner 0 63.80 0 34.77
5 117 LE CONTE Andrew Kocher (USA) Andrew Kocher 0 64.25 0 37.81
6 30 FORTIS FORTUNA Daniel Coyle (IRL) Susan & Ariel Grange 0 61.52 4 31.54
7 82 BONZAY Jonathon Millar (CAN) Isotropic Networks Inc. 0 64.06 4 34.84
8 41 HADJA VAN ORSHOF Kelli Cruciotti (USA) Kelli Cruciotti 0 64.30 4 36.88
9 54 AVON Mattias Tromp (USA) Beyaert Farm Inc 0 62.03 8 32.54
10 47 MARK Q Kevin Babington (IRL) Kevin Babington 0 64.38 12 35.52