Jumping
In its 11th year, The New Albany Classic is established as a premier show jumping event in North America. The Classic is held on the beautiful grounds of Abigail and Les Wexner’s estate in New Albany, Ohio. The 2008 event featured 28 horse and rider combinations. In this year’s Classic, the riders represented three countries — Canada, Ireland and the United States — and featured eight former Olympians including the 2008 United States gold medal team members McLain Ward and Beezie Madden.
The New Albany Classic has evolved during its 11 years, with attendance growing from 3,200 spectators in its first year to more than 17,000 today. More than 300 volunteers from throughout the community staff it. The Classic raised more than $1 million dollars in 2008, with all proceeds contributed to the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence, which is working to break the cycle of family violence in central Ohio.
“Every penny earned from today’s event goes to the Coalition,” said Coalition Founder and Board Chair Abigail S. Wexner.
Karen S. Days, President of the Coalition, stressed the importance of this event saying that the Coalition could not exist without the funds raised at The Classic.
The 2008 Grand Prix, with a purse of $80,000 in prize money, is the highlight of the all-day event and featured a beautiful course of 13 elements. It included an in-and-out and a triple combination, for a total of 16 jumping efforts. The course was designed by international course designer Richard Jefferies who placed the lavish jumps over the lovely grass field. Each jumping element featured plush landscaping and flowers. Mr. Jefferies praised the landscape team for ensuring that the Grand Prix field would be in top-notch condition, and he was most proud of the footing, stating that it rivals the best footing anywhere.
The course proved to be challenging, with only nine horses completing the first round clean. Fence number three, a tall vertical off of a bending line, proved to be troublesome for several of the horses. Many riders were fault-free over the course until its last elements that included a triple combination on the side of the course near the stadium seating. In the triple combination, element 12A was a very wide triple bar jump followed by just one stride to fence 12B, a vertical plank jump set in flat cups, then followed by a one stride to 12C, another tall vertical jump. The tight distance between fences 12A and 12B proved to be difficult as 12B came down numerous times, spoiling the jump off hopes for many riders.
Going second in the line up was Todd Minikus who was the first of the day to go clear in the first round with a precise ride aboard his Dutch warmblood, Pavarotti, with a first round time of 86.1 seconds, which was well within the 94 second time limit. Four horses later, Norman Dello Joio had a clear round on his mare, Lady in Blue. Next to go clear was the 2004 winner of the Classic, McLain Ward, with the bay mare Goldika 559. Last year’s winner, Darragh Kerins, riding Night Train was clear in the first round to make it through to the jump off. Also fault-free in the first round were Rebecca Johanson-Hofmann aboard Corona, and Canadians Jay Hays on Liuquot and Erynn Ballard on Rio’s Rhapsody. In addition, new mother Frankie Chesler-Ortiz on Ranville, and Danielle Torano on Vancouver D’Auvray, the last combination to complete the first round, moved onto the jump off after clear first rounds.
Hometown favorite 19-year-old amateur rider Ali Wolff had an accurate and beautiful ride. She was clear until taking the top rail at the last element, a wide and formidable square oxer. Ali rode a very fast first round and was the second fastest four-faulter in the first round, ending up in 11th place overall.
The jump off had seven jumping elements that included 12A and 12B and finished with fence 13. The shortened course required both horse and rider to be fast between the jumps and tight on the turns to save time. The ride from fence 3 to fence 4 was the most challenging as some riders misjudged the tight turn and toppled fence 4.
First to go in the jump off was Todd Minikus, who turned in the only double clean ride of the day. Both McLain Ward and Darragh Kerins turned in faster jump off times, but each pulled a rail for four jumping faults. Norman Dello Joio, Rebecca Johanson-Hofmann, Erynn Ballard and Danielle Torano also had four faults in the jump off, with Jay Hays having eight faults, and Frankie Chesler-Ortiz pulling down three rails for 12 faults.
When asked about his strategy for the jump off, Todd Minikus said that since he was first to go, he knew he had to be fast but a little cautious to the combination in order to turn in a clean round. As he came out of the ring, he told his ground crew that he was happy with his ride but knew he had left the door open just slightly. After his win, Minikus joked that McLain Ward had a faster jump off time, but that McLain managed to get a “speeding ticket” when he dropped the top plank of 12B.
Todd Minikus, the winner of the first New Albany Classic held in 1998, is the only two-time winner of the Classic. His winnings on Pavarotti included prize money of $24,000 and a two-year lease on a 2009 Mercedes-Benz ML 350 SUV. After the victory gallop on horseback, Todd hopped into his new SUV for a test drive around the ring during which he celebrated by holding the trophy out of the window. A repeat was sweet for Minikus at New Albany.
© Jennifer Johnson-Nester and Laura A. Hauser
Top of Page
|
