Lake Placid, NY – July 2, 2018 – The first week of the 49th annual Lake Placid Horse Shows, presented by Sea Shore Stables, LLC and sponsored by Bainbridge Farms, LLC, culminated with an exciting win by Irish Olympic veteran Kevin Babington in the $75,000 Prevost Richard M. Feldman Grand Prix.

Only three of the 41 entries qualified for the tiebreaking jump-off by riding without penalty over the 13-jump, 16-effort first-round course designed by Olaf Petersen, Jr. of Germany. After the first 26 entries failed to go clean, the youngest rider in the class, 18-year-old McKayla Langmeier of East Granby, Connecticut, turned in the first clean round on Iliano Van D’Abelendreef. She was soon joined in the jump-off by Babington and 2011 Pan American Games double Gold Medalist Christine McCrea of East Windsor, Connecticut who was clean on Nektarina B.

Babington then took the lead with a clean ride in 35.693 seconds on Mark Q, his 16-year-old Irish Sport Horse (ISH) who won Lake Placid’s I Love New York Grand Prix in 2013. McCrea matched Babington’s clean round on her 13-year-old, Holsteiner mare but her time of 37.019 left her in second place, giving Babington his second win in three years after having won the class in 2016 on Shorapur.

“I thought the course designer did a good job,” Babington said. “The faults were spread out all over the course so there wasn’t any one spot tripping people up, although the double caught a lot of horses. Anytime you have an airy vertical to an oxer, it’s hard enough but then adding gray to it with a left drift, well there was a lot going on there.

“Mark Q really likes in here in Lake Placid which also holds a special place in my heart. This is the first horse show I ever came to when I first came to this country back in 1988 and my family and I love it here. We wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

Prior to the Grand Prix, a special ceremony was held honoring the memory of longtime Lake Placid Horse Show chairman, Richard M. Feldman, who passed away this past winter. The horse show also paid tribute to its longtime announcer, Peter Doubleday, giving him its first Outstanding Friend or Official Award. Sunday’s action also included the Juliam Farm Lead Line Class and the C.M. Hadfield’s Parade of Champions.

The I Love New York Horse Show runs July 3-8, highlighted by the $100,000 Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix on Saturday, July 7. The show also includes the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Presented by Eastern Hay & Purina Animal Nutrition on Sunday, July 8.

The Lake Placid Horse Shows offer over $535,000 in prize money and feature the nation’s best horses and riders competing in four show rings. The horse shows offers more than 100 classes of competition each week for all levels of competition ranging from young children on ponies to grand prix competitors and Olympic competitors and medalists. Each show is USEF ‘AA’ rated for hunters and 6* rated for Jumpers.

Admission to the horse show is just $2.00 on weekdays and $5.00 on weekends. Children under the age of 12 are admitted free. Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more. For a behind the scenes look at the horse show, guided walking tours are offered on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. The tour groups meet at the horse show retail booth, and the tours, costing just $1.00, last approximately one hour.

Feature Class Winners of the Lake Placid Horse Show include:
Tuesday, June 26 – Jimmy Torano on Armageddon and Rachel Glickigh on MJ in the two sections of the Sidelines 1.30-meter Speed Class

Wednesday, June 27 – Stella Manship on Liismeen Ludam and Cormac Hanley on Copain Z in the two sections of the 1,200 Lake Placid Lodge 1.30m Jumper Class; Sloane Coles on Copias in the $1,500 Adirondack Life 1.35m Jumper Class; Devin Ryan on Florida in the $5,000 NBC 5 1.40m Jumper Class

Thursday, June 28 – LaFitte De Muze, owned by Cheryl Olsten and shown by Amanda Steege, and Flower Dance, owned by Maria Partlow and shown by Christopher Payne, tied for Grand Hunter Champion

Friday, June 29 – Cormac Hanley on Captain Caruso in the $1,500 Pepsi Beverages Co. 1.35m Jumper Class; Laura Chapot on Zealous in the $5,000 Dartbrook Rustic Goods 1.40m Jumper Class; Jimmy Torano on Glasgow De Muze in the $30,000 Volatire Jumper Classic

Saturday, June 30 – Laura Chapot on Zealous in the $20,000 CMJ Sporthorse 1.40m Open Stake; Sam Walker on Zappa in the $7,500 High Peaks Resort Low Junior Jumper Classic; Brianne Link on Wednesday Mornin in the $7,500 Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort Low Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic; Katie Eppinger on Ino V Bareethof in the $5,000 J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines Adult Amateur Jumper Classic

Sunday, July 1 – Zayna Rizvi on Calvaton in the $5,000 The Wild Center
Children’s Jumper Classic; McKayla Langmeier on Bon Vivant in the $10,000 Mirror Lake Inn Junior Jumper Classic; Debbie Dolan-Sweeney on La Petite Fleur 6 in the $10,000 Mirror Lake Inn Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic

Thank you to this year’s list of generous sponsors
including 17 Hands Gallery, Adirondack Life, Anonymous, Bainbridge Farms, LLC, Beacon Hill Horse Transportation, Inc., Beyaert Farm, Debbie & Jim Burrows, C.M. Hadfield’s Saddlery, Inc., Carolina Arena Equipment, Casella Waste Management, Jane Forbes Clark, Clifton Park Rental Center, CMJ Sporthorse, Community Bank NA, Crowne Plaza Lake Placid, Dartbrook Rustic Goods, David R. Fowler Custom Tack Trunks, Deeridge Farms, Der Dau Custom Made Boots, Eastern Hay & Grain, Equestrian Living, FarmVet, Inc., Featherlite Coaches, Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort, Great American Insurance Group, Hampton Inn, High Peaks Resort, Hollow Brook Wealth Management, LLC, Hooker Family, Horse Watch, Horseshoe Trail Farm, LLC, Hunt, Ltd., iEquine Media Inc., J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, Juliam Farm, Kate Levy & Family, Lake Placid CVB / Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST), Lake Placid Flower and Gift Co., Lake Placid Lodge, Milagro Tequila/Empire Merchants North, Mirror Lake Inn / The Cottage Cafe, The Morrissey Family, Morrissey Management Group, NBC 5, North Star, On A Fence Designs, Pepsi Beverages Company, Prevost, Pure Placid, Purina Animal Nutrition, RobinsonRidge, Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Saratoga, Ruthies Run, Sagamore Farm, Sage Hill Farm, Sea Shore Stables, LLC, ShowNet, Sidelines, Dennis Sisco & Alexine Lesko, Storm Ridge Capital, LLC, Stretton Enterprises, Inc., Taylor Rental/New Holland, The Clothes Horse, The Whiteface Lodge, The Wild Center, Town of North Elba Park District, Village of Lake Placid, Voltaire Design, and Woodlea Farms.

Additional information on the Lake Placid Horse Shows is available by calling the Lake Placid Horse Show Association at 518-523-9625 or visit online at www.lakeplacidhorseshow.com.