Contact: Jennifer Ward
Starting Gate Communications
tel: (613) 569-2423

November 9, 2005
For Immediate Release

Distant Star and Timebreaker Take National Young Horse Champion Titles Eastern and Western Canada Split Victories

Toronto, Ontario – After finishing as the Reserve Champion one year ago in the National Five-Year-Old Championship, Roberto Teran guided the Canadian-bred Distant Star to the win this year in the final event of the 2005 Canadian Young Horse Jumper Development Series, held November 7 at the Royal Horse Show in Toronto, ON.

The top 14 horses in the country contested the $8,000 National Six-Year-Old Championships after qualifying throughout the nine-event Series. All horses came into the Royal Horse Show, the only indoor event of the Series, with a clean slate. Of the 14 horses, only five managed to post a clear round over the course set by Leopoldo Palacios, course designer of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Piloted by KingRidge Stables resident rider Roberto Teran of Colombia, Distant Star jumped clearly around the shortened jump-off course in a time of 36.32 seconds to set the early pace.

Fellow KingRidge Stables competitor, Hugh Graham, was next into the Ricoh Coliseum riding Double Diamond, an active Belgian Warmblood breeding stallion by Nabab de Reve and out of a Chin Chin mare. There were high hopes for the pair who had won the National Five-Year-Old Championship title one year earlier. Unfortunately, trouble coming into the double combination resulted in a total of 10 faults for fifth place overall.

Erynn Ballard of Hillsburgh, ON, was the next challenger riding Jamie Richardson’s Possibilities, a Dutch Warmblood gelding by Monaco out of a Burggraaf dam. While Ballard had the fastest time, 34.94 seconds, a rail down cost her the victory and put her in third place. Ballard also placed sixth riding Holter Leasing’s Windus, a Belgian-bred gelding by Skippy II, after having the fastest four-fault effort in the first round.

Margie Gayford of Sharon, ON, took up the challenge riding Winston, a Belgian Warmblood gelding by Wellington out of a Cantus dam, owned by Shawn Littler of Wingberry Farms. The pair produced a solid clear round and stopped the clock at 38.24 seconds, a result that would be good enough for second place and the National Six-Year-Old Reserve Championship title.

The final challenger, Rob Carey, was looking like he might emerge the winner when a fence down ended his hopes for victory riding Liz Currie’s Carolla Z, a Belgian-bred Zangersheide mare by Cumano.

Despite going first in the jump-off, the National Six-Year-Old Championship title went to Distant Star, a grey Canadian Sport Horse mare owned by KingRidge Stables of King, ON. Bred through embryo transplant, Distant Star is by the KingRidge Stables stallion, Class Action, and out of Betwixt, who enjoyed a successful grand prix show jumping career under Hugh Graham.

“She was a little tense coming into the ring tonight,” said Teran of the only Canadian-bred horse to place in the top five. “We had a problem earlier in the week when she had a chemical burn under the saddle, so she had three days off and I only rode her yesterday. Even without training this week, she was able to handle the pressure. We think she has the potential to be a grand prix horse – she is brave, careful, scopey and fast, but only time will tell.”

Teran rode Distant Star at the U.S. Young Horse East Coast Finals held at the CSI-W Hampton Classic Horse Show, NY, in September, producing three clear rounds over four courses. The pair will now travel south to Wellington, FL, where they will contest the National Finals at the National Horse Show.

In the $8,000 National Five-Year-Old Championships, both objective and subjective judging came into play. The horse receives a score out of 50 based on his jumping performance – one rail down results in a five-point penalty, while a panel of judges awards the horse a style score, also out of 50. The two scores are added together to produce one mark out of 100.

With nine of the 15 entries producing clear rounds to earn a perfect jumping score of 50, the style mark became the deciding factor.

Timebreaker may have only been the second horse into the ring, but the style judges – Mario Deslauriers and Chris Pratt of Canada and Piet Raymakers and Eric van der Vleuten of the Netherlands, certainly liked what they saw. They awarded Timebreaker with a style score of 40 to bring his overall score to 90, easily claiming the National Five-Year-Old Championship title.

It was worth the trip east for owners John and Jacqueline van den Bosch of Red Deer, AB. The couple purchased Timebreaker, who is by the well-know Dutch sire Heartbreaker and out of a Calvados dam, at the select sale auction in Holland. Normally ridden by their 21-year-old daughter, Coby, Eric Lamaze had the ride on Heartbreaker at the Royal.

“I asked Eric about riding him while we were at the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’, and he agreed to try him,” explained John van den Bosch, who said excellent bloodlines attracted him to Timebreaker. “He got on him, jumped a few jumps, and said to ship him to the Royal. The decision was made in all of five minutes.”

An active breeding stallion, Timebreaker excelled in Young Horse competition in western Canada before coming east to the Royal Horse Show. He stands at Bosch Farms in Red Deer, which is home to 20 horses and over 500 dairy cattle.

Earning the Reserve Championship title with 85 points was the Ontario Five-Year-Old Champion, Trocadero. Shown by Erynn Ballard and owned by her family’s Looking Back Farm, Trocadero is a chestnut Dutch Warmblood gelding by Nassau out of a Quidam de Revel dam that was bred in Holland. Ballard guided Trocadero to a total of five victories this season, but had to settle for the National Five-Year-Old Reserve Championship title at the Royal.

Ballard also took third place with a score of 83 points riding Pour Patrice W for owner Charles Ormston, the founder of the Jumper Development Series. The highest placed Canadian-bred horse, the Hannoverian gelding was bred by Augustin Walch of W. Charlot Farms and is by the Westphalian stallion, Pour Gagne, and out of a Rio Grande mare.

Fourth place went to Quebec entry Monai with a total score of 82. Owned and ridden by Francois Lamontagne, Monai is a grey selle francais mare by Urbain du Monnai that was bred in Quebec by Charles Perrutel.

Tonya Henning, 20, guided the Mill Creek Stables entry of Sandhya to fifth place overall with a final score of 80 points. Imported as a four-year-old, Sandhya is a Luxemburg mare by the Oldenburg stallion Silvio II.

The purpose of the Canadian Young Horse Jumper Development Series is to encourage the development of young show jumping talent and to give Canadian breeders additional incentives to breed superior show jumping prospects. Competing on a level playing field, the horses are divided according to age and jump at a level suited to their development as four, five and six-year-olds. This careful development allows the horses to gain valuable experience and advance to the higher levels of show jumping competition with confidence. The Canadian Young Horse Jumper Development Series also gives prospective buyers for the hunter and jumper markets an opportunity to view a large group of prospects in a competition setting.

The Ontario Hunter Jumper Association, together with its proud supporters - 4 Star Trailers, TD Waterhouse, Scotia McLeod, Peter Miller, Canadian Warmblood Horse Breeders Association, W. Charlot Farms, Gary Cooper Chev Olds, Henry Equestrian Insurance Brokers Ltd., Dutch Masters Construction Services Ltd., Dr. Al Manning, Brubacher’s Harness Shop, KingRidge Stables, Mr. Charles Ormston, the Hannoverian Breeders Club of Eastern Canada, Mr. Michael Boyd, Mrs. Elaine Gray, and other friends present the 2005 Canadian Young Horse Jumper Development Series.

$8,000 National Six-Year-Old Championship

Horse Owner Rider Faults Time
Champion Distant Star* KingRidge Stables Roberto Teran 0:0 36.62
Reserve Winston Wingberry Farms Margie Gayford 0:0 38.24
3. Possibilities Jamie Richardson Erynn Ballard 0:4 34.94
4. Carolla Z Liz Currie Rob Carey 0:4 37.93
5. Double Diamond KingRidge Stables Hugh Graham 0:10 44.68

 

$8,000 National Five-Year-Old Championship

Horse Owner Rider Points
Champion Timebreaker J. and J. van den Bosch Eric Lamaze 90
Reserve Trocadero Looking Back Farms Erynn Ballard 85
3. Pour Patrice W* Charles Ormston Erynn Ballard 83
4. Monai* Francois Lamontagne Francois Lamontagne 82
5. Sandhya Mill Creek Stables Tonya Henning 80

NOTE – The star * beside a horse’s name denotes that it is Canadian-bred.

- 30 -

ATTACHED PHOTOS
“Roberto Teran guided Distant Star to the National Six-Year-Old Championship title for owner KingRidge Stables.”
“Timebreaker, shown by Eric Lamaze, took the National Five-Year-Old Championship title back to Alberta.”
Photo Credits – © Al Cook
Please e-mail jward@startinggate.ca for high-resolution photograph. Please advise of links to web postings.

For further information on the Canadian Young Horse Jumper Development Series, please contact Dale Hawerchuk, Chair, at tel: (519) 938-8637.