Lexington, Ky. – July 26, 2019 – The Kentucky Summer Horse Show opened Friday morning competition in the Rolex Stadium with the $5,000 1.40m Open Jumpers, where 14 horse-and-rider combinations contested the 14-effort track designed by Marina Azevedo. As a power and speed class, the contenders jumped the first seven jumps clear before moving onto the second speed phase. While riders raced to beat the clock, none could catch Jimmy Torano who rode the quickest clean round for the top spot on Uxanna, while Lorcan Gallagher on Colada and Pablo Barrios on Fursina VDM, placed second and third, respectively.
The first in the class, Barrios, laid down a competitive round, jumping double-clear and finishing with a fast time of 33.431 seconds on Fursina VDM, a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Ignacio Oberto. His time proved tricky for competitors to beat until Michael Murphy and Lord Up had the necessary impulsion to finish in 31.291 seconds, but pulled down two rails during the speed phase to finish with eight faults.
It wasn’t until Torano’s double-clear performance aboard Uxanna that Barrios’ lead was overtaken. Uxanna, Torano’s 9-year-old Wurttemburg mare, shaved nearly two seconds off the initial leader’s time with a tight inside turn to the second to last fence, finishing clear in 31.615 seconds. Torano purchased the mare by Ustinov in 2018 and has worked on developing her with his wife Danielle. The pair share the ride depending on their schedules and her most recent highlight was a third-place finish in the $25,000 Horseware Ireland Welcome Prix with Jimmy at Tryon International Equestrian Center this spring.
One of the last horse-and-rider combinations of the class, Ireland’s Lorcan Gallagher on Colada, made their best effort to overcome Torano’s time but ended their double-clear round in 33.090 seconds. The 8-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare, owned by Sweet Oak Farm, finished the class in second place, narrowly edging out Barrios who ultimately finished in third.
Show jumping competition continues at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 27, in the Rolex Stadium with the Low Junior Jumpers and will feature the $50,000 Rood & Riddle Grand Prix at 7:30 p.m.
RESULTS
$5,000 1.45m Open Jumpers
Place / Horse / Rider / Power Faults | Time / Speed Faults | Time
1. Uxanna / Jimmy Torano / 0 | 44.548 / 0 | 31.615
2. Colada / Lorcan Gallagher / 0 | 45.199 / 0 | 33.090
3. Fursina VDM / Pablo Barrios / 0 | 44.612 / 0 | 33.431
4. Dior / Lorcan Gallagher / 0 |45.301 / 0 | 33.983
5. R.K. Vincent Santa Monica / Shannon Clifford / 0 | 46.206 / 0 | 37.317
6. Gauguin / Darragh Kerins / 0 | 45.681 / 0 | 38.791
7. Delight M-G C De Leuze / Darragh Kerings / 0 | 48.893 / 0 | 44.160
8. Maraca LS La Silla / Kady Abrahamson / 0 | 47.697 / 0 | 44.265
9. Lord Up / Michael Murphy / 0 | 45.741 / 8 | 31.291
10. Ayade Hero Z / Daisy Farish / 4 | 44.201 / 4 | 32.284
11. Ferdita / Juan Rodriguez Silva / 0 | 46.573 / 8 | 36.834
12. Deavantus / Rachel McMullen / 4 | 49.087 / 4 | 41.310
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Jimmy Torano – $5,000 1.40m Open Jumpers winner
On Uxanna:
“She was great today. I jumped her in the 1.30m yesterday just to let her jump a smaller class before building it up today. She was good yesterday — I went fairly fast in that and she ended in fourth, but today she was on the money. She felt dynamite.”
On their round today:
“Oddly enough, she is a big mare and there was a tight inside turn going to the second to last jump and I questioned that a little bit, even when I was in the ring. I thought ‘wow that is really a tight turn,’ but she felt so on the money that I was going to take it. The footing is so good here that I knew I wouldn’t get a slip there.”
On what’s next for Uxanna:
“The mare is unfortunately very green for her age. Luckily, this summer she is coming along nicely. I am hoping to do the grand prix with her next week. I wanted to get her acclimated to the facility this week. It’s a big, impressive ring and I wanted to do a couple of classes in here and then build her up for the grand prix next week. This is the first time I’ve shown her here.”
On showing at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show:
“We love it here. We came here last year and had a great show. You can’t find a better facility. It’s the best footing we have in this country.”