The Kentucky Summer Classic got into full swing today, with open jumper classes taking center stage at the new Indoor Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. Those who were lucky enough to compete in the beautifully air-conditioned facility were able to get away from the scorching sun and nearly unbearable conditions outside, as the heat index reached to a near record 107 degrees in Lexington.

The 1.35m and 1.40m Open Jumpers, in addition to some excellent competition today, provided a perfect platform for those riders preparing their mounts for this week’s $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic and the $50,000 Rood & Riddle Kentucky Grand Prix, both scheduled in the indoor arena on Thursday and Saturday evening, respectively.

The blue ribbon in the 1.40m Open Jumpers was secured Ecuadorian Luis Barreiro and VSilverado for the second week in a row, while Lauren Tisbo took the top spot in the 1.35m with her mount, Sansierra.

For the second week of the Kentucky Summer Series, the jumper course designer is Canadian Dave Ballard, who served as the technical delegate at last week’s North American Young Rider Championships. Ballard’s resume includes assistant course designer in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. In the 1.40m course, a time first round class, Ballard included two oxer-vertical double combinations, a liverpool, and a skinny vertical.

Sixteen competitors turned out for the 1.40m, and Ballard’s challenging course saw less than half of the entrants without a fault. There was no photo finish for the winner though, as Ecuadorian Luis Barreiro riding Pablo Vivero’s VSilverado grabbed the victory by more than 2.5 seconds. Barreiro competed for the first time in Kentucky last week and snagged top ribbons in 1.35m and 1.40m divisions with VSilverado. He said he hopes his luck continues tomorrow night at the $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic.

“I’m trying to prepare my horse for tomorrow, so I wanted to gallop a little bit, but not cut too much,” Barreiro explained of his strategy, saying he didn’t take all the inside turn options. “Then I felt my horse was jumping good, so I could go a little bit faster, and I think he jumped great. This is the second week here, and I think my horse has begun to jump better, in rhythm,” he smiled.

The second place finisher was Diego Vivero riding Big Brother with a time of 61.466 seconds. Coming in third today was Daniel Bluman with Puertas Paraiso, breaking the beams in 62.838 seconds. Lauren Crooks rounded out the top four with Cincinnati La Silla, coming home clear in 65.154 seconds.

1.35 m Open Jumpers

Earlier in the day, 51 competitors lined up for the 1.35m Open Jumper class, with only 10 of those entrants managing to go clean in the first round to move on to an immediate jump off under the Table II, Sec 2(b) format. The course was inviting,and included many inside turn options for the risk takers.

Setting the pace for the class with a double clear score was Reed Kessler with her 10-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Ligist. The pair took a couple of daring inside turns and sliced a wide oxer, tripping the timers at 32.807 seconds. Her lead was maintained until she bested her own time on her second mount, the 11-year-old Holsteiner mare Onisha, by less than 1/10th of a second. At that point, it seemed like the only one who could catch Reed Kessler was Reed Kessler.

The very next rider to tackle the track however, was Lauren Tisbo with Tequestrian Farm’s Sansierra, who snatched the lead from Kessler. Tisbo had an even sharper route than Kessler, and opted to go in five instead of six strides in the final line of the jump off round. The risk paid off as Tisbo managed to shave nearly a second off Kessler’s pace to cross the finish line in a speedy 31.949 seconds.

Both Tisbo and Kessler are trained by Katie Prudent, who said, “we always go in to win,” which has been made clear in the past two weeks with multiple first place finishes by her students, including Henri Kovacs’ win with Sassicaia II, last Sunday evening in the 40,000 Kentucky Summer Grand Prix.

“In the jump off, Katie talked to me about the inside turn option from fences one to two,” Tisbo explained of her route cutting through the in and out, a path that few of the 10 riders in the jump off braved. Tisbo also went inside of a skinny vertical a path to a double combination. “I know this horse the best, so I thought I’d give it a shot. She’s one I’ve had a long time,” Tisbo said of her 14-year-old Holsteiner mare. “She’s just coming back from lime disease. That took a while to diagnose, and a long time to get her better, but now she’s like her old self again.”

Tisbo, who is based in Wellington, Florida, had a successful horse show last week with wins in the 1.35 and 1.40m classes, and clear first rounds in the $30,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic and $40,000 Kentucky Summer Grand Prix.

Behind Tisbo and Kessler was fourth place finisher Aaron Vale and Ubico-H, stopping the timers in 32.996 seconds. The top four places of the class were a photo finish, as the jump off times were all within one second of each another. Kimberly Prince and King of Hearts took home fifth place with a jump off time of 36.668 seconds, and Max Amaya came in sixth place aboard Tinsday VDL at 36.875 seconds.

The Kentucky Summer Classic will continue tomorrow with a full schedule of hunter/jumper competition at the Kentucky Horse Park. The highlight of tomorrow will be the $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic at 6 p.m. in the New Indoor Arena. The most prize money will be offered in the $50,000 Rood & Riddle Kentucky Grand Prix on Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 6 p.m. in the New Indoor Arena.

After a break on Monday and Tuesday, competition will resume at the Kentucky Horse Park with the start of the USEF Pony Finals.

For more information on the Kentucky Summer Horse Show Series, please visit www.kentuckyhorseshows.com

RESULTS

OPEN JUMPER 1.40m II sec 1

1 721 VSILVERADO LUIS BARREIRO PABLO VIVERO 0 0 0 58.879 2 719 BIG BROTHER DIEGO VIVERO PABLO VIVERO 0 0 0 61.466 3 1394 PUERTAS PASAISO DANIEL BLUMAN DANIEL BLUMAN 0 0 0 62.838 4 968 CINCINNATI LA SILLA LAUREN CROOKS GLEN YOUELL 0 0 0 65.154 5 429 CARLOS DE NOEL TIFFANY FOSTER TIFFANY FOSTER 0 0 0 67.165 6 498 CREDIT CRUSE PETER LUTZ 0 0 0 67.301 7 428 UTOPIE TIFFANY FOSTER ARTISAN FARMS LLC 0 0 0 69.464 8 1393 LIFESTYLE DANIEL BLUMAN DANIEL BLUMAN 4 0 4 66.892 9 513 TITANIA PETER LUTZ COPERNICUS STABLES LLC 4 0 4 69.695 10 505 SPRINGTIME MARY MANFREDI COPERNICUS STABLES LLC 4 1 5 72.996 11 104 AD FUNDUM DONALD CHESKA ERICKA PRITZ 8 0 8 63.666 12 1742 VIVACIOUS CAROLINE LYNN CAROLINE LYNN 8 0 8 70.887

OPEN JUMPER 1.35m II 2b

1 937 SANSIERRA LAUREN TISBO TEQUESTRIAN FARMS, LLC 0 0 0 67.183 0 0 0 31.949 2 307 ONISHA REED KESSLER REED KESSLER 0 0 0 69.890 0 0 0 32.701 3 311 LIGIST REED KESSLER REED KESSLER 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 32.807 4 1054 UBICO-H AARON VALE ROYAL FARMS, LLC 0 0 0 72.220 0 0 0 32.996 5 1181 KING OF HEARTS KIMBERLY PRINCE CHLOE D REID LLC 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 36.668 6 13 TINSDAY VDL MAX AMAYA STONE HILL FARM 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 36.875 7 510 APRIL PETER LUTZ COPERNICUS STABLES LLC 0 0 0 68.098 0 0 0 36.925 8 971 NOTRE STAR DE LA NUTRIG NORMAN DELLO JOIO LA NUTRIA 0 0 0 0.000 0 0 0 37.662 9 440 SCHEFFERKES SOLO OLIVIA HERBERT OLIVIA HERBERT 0 0 0 69.546 0 0 0 39.866 10 1566 HIDDEN CREEK’S LONESOME BOY MARGIE ENGLE HIDDEN CREEK FARM, INC. 0 0 0 71.098 0 0 0 41.404 11 1058 CARTIER AARON VALE 0 0 0 71.940 4 0 4 34.055 12 1549 CONNERY 9 MAGGIE MCALARY DELANEY FARMS LLC 0 0 0 72.034 4 0 4 37.497