Patricia Griffith and Veronieque Win Opening Day 1.30m Jumpers at the 2009 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival

Traverse City, MI – July 8, 2009 – The 2009 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival kicked off its first day of competition this morning at the beautiful Flintfields Horse Park in Traverse City, MI. The show runs from July 8-August 2, 2009, and features some of the top horses and riders in the country in hunter, jumper, equitation and dressage competition.

Hagyard Equine Medical Clinic sponsored the $1,000 1.30m Jumpers in the Team Elmer’s Grand Prix Ring this morning as 19 entries showed over the track set by Canadian course designer Eve Frisque. Fourteen of the original 19 entries went clear over the first round course to jump-off, and of those 14, ten went double clear. Patricia Griffith of Katonah, NY, showed her seven-year-old mare Veronieque to the fastest double clear round of the class for the win in a time of 30.805 seconds.

“I got her right before Florida this year,” Griffith explained. “She came from Emile Hendrix and she is by Endoctro. She is a machine; I really can’t take too much credit. Every class you go in she tries to win, so it is really exciting.”

“She is so fun. She is the easiest horse that I have ever had I think,” Griffith smiled. “You just have to kind of sit up there and steer. You don’t use a lot of leg; you just basically point and shoot. She is really cool.”

Second place honors were awarded to Oh, So Funny and Dave Dorner, who went double clear in a time of 31.600 seconds. Third place went to Shane Sweetnam and Shakespeare with a jump-off time of 32.062 seconds. Emily Williams and Samba 75 put in a great double clear effort with a time of 32.507 seconds to earn the fourth place ribbon. Dave Dorner and Topliner were the first to show and held the lead with the fastest time of 32.881 seconds for most of the class, but were eventually pushed back to fifth place. Rounding out the top honors, Patricia Griffith rode Chambertina through the timers in 33.101 seconds for sixth place.

This is Griffith’s second year showing and training with Heritage Farm at Horse Shows by the Bay, and she expressed how much she loves the show. “We make the 16 hour trek from New York just to come here,” she stated. “It is just a great show grounds, it is really set up for the horses, and there is so much room. It is a great town too, we really like it here.”

“The course today was great,” Griffith added. “I though it was a great track because it used the whole ring. It was mostly just long gallops that let us get all over the ring, which is nice for the first class.”

Griffith plans to use this show to start jumping some higher, more advanced courses with Veronieque. “I have done a few 1.40m classes with her and she is coming along nicely,” Griffith said. “Her main goal is going to show in the Seven-Year-Old Young Jumper championship at the Hampton Classic, so while we are here I will probably do the Seven-Year-Old classes and then I would like to start bumping her up and gear her up for the finals. She is a really promising young horse; she is great.”

The $1,000 1.35m Jumpers also competed over Eve Frisque’s course this afternoon. Fourteen entries showed in the class, but it was the first pair who took the lead and stayed there right from the start. Kyle King and RMW San Friese jumped clear in the first round, went straight to their jump-off course, and made it look effortless as they raced through the timers in 30.280 seconds without touching a rail. The pair’s time held up as the fastest throughout the class, and they would eventually earn the victory.

Out of the fourteen class entries, nine made it to the jump-off, and eight went double clear. David Beisel rode Moet Walk to the second place finish after completing double clear rounds and coming through the timers in 32.777 seconds. Third place honors were awarded to Patricia Griffith and Callabonna Z with a clear jump-off time of 33.514 seconds. Addison Phillips rode Teirra to the fourth place prize with a time of 34.790 seconds. Peter Pletcher and Coasting came in fifth place after completing double clear rounds in 34.980 seconds, and Holly Orlando rode Great Pleasure to the sixth place honors with her time of 35.347 seconds.

The 2009 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival will continue tomorrow at the Flintfields Horse Park in beautiful Traverse City, MI. The Team Elmer’s Grand Prix Ring will feature more exciting jumper competition, including the $3,000 NAL Open Jumper Speed class.

For more information, please visit www.horseshowsbythebay.com

Patricia Griffith and Veronieque

Patricia Griffith rode Veronieque to the win in the 1.30m Jumpers on opening day of the 2009 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival.

$1000 1.30 METER JUMPERS II 2B 1 422 VERONIEQUE PATRICIA GRIFFITH 2 928 OH, SO FUNNY! DAVE DORNER 3 853 SHAKESPEARE SHANE SWEETNAM 4 514 SAMBA 75 EMILY WILLIAMS 5 956 TOPLINER DAVE DORNER 6 406 CHAMBERTINA PATRICIA GRIFFITH

$1000 1.35 METER JUMPERS II 2B 1 887 RMW SAN FRIESE KYLE KING 2 415 MOET WALK DAVID BEISEL 3 410 CALLABONNA Z PATRICIA GRIFFITH 4 449 TEIRRA ADDISON PHILLIPS 5 939 COASTING PETER PLETCHER 6 3 GREAT PLEASURE HOLLY ORLANDO