2004 Press Releases

THE THREE-WEEK LEGACY CUP CONCLUDES WEEK ONE WITH PRO 3' (Open and Limited), PRE GREEN AND PONY CHAMPIONS NAMED
BOHEMIA, GOLD DUST, NOAH AND STRIKE A POSE DOMINATE FIRST WEEK
Pletcher Named Leading Trainer and Waxman Leading Pony Rider

By Diana De Rosa

May 10, 2004 - Lexington, KY -- On May 6, the Legacy Cup returned for its third edition. The first two Legacy Cups took place as stand alone events in 2001 and 2002. This time around the 2004 Legacy Cup made its comeback as a three-week event (May 6-23, 2004) as part of the Kentucky Spring Premier Horse Show in Lexington, KY. For the first week Pro 3' and Pony Hunter Classes were held. At the conclusion of week one, Peter Pletcher, Magnolia, TX, rode Bohemia to win both the Pro 3' First Go Round and the Finals. Pletcher was also named Leading Trainer of the Week. Abigail Mort and Gold Dust claimed Limited Pro Rider Championship honors. In the ponies, Strike A Pose, ridden by Jennifer Waxman won both the First Go Round and the Finals, which also helped Waxman earn the Leading Pony Hunter Rider title. The winner of the Pre Green Incentive was Noah, ridden by Cookie Beck.

The Legacy Cup is novel in many ways but most importantly is the fact that riders earn prize money based on 70% of the entry fee. As a result at the end of the first week close to $15,000 was paid out in the Pro 3' and Pony Hunter Divisions.

Having the Legacy Cup make its comeback debut as part of another horse show proved to be a huge success. Commented course designer Ken Krome, "I think the concept of trying to showcase hunters in an event like a grand prix type of event is definitely the wave of the future."

Added judge Philip DeVita, "These horse shows have many, many years of tradition in being held here and the spring shows here have become such huge jumper draws maybe having the Legacy Cup involved and the three weeks … will allow this to keep increasing the quality of the people and horses that come. That's everyone's goal in the horse show industry. We always try to promote quality and have the best events that we can."

THE WEEK BEGINS WITH THE PRO 3' DIVISIONS SPONSORED BY STAL JAN BROEK
On May 6th, the Pro 3' Go Round was held. Opening the class of 44 competitors was Peter Pletcher with his first of five rides, Becky Gochman's Bohemia. Their score of 259 kept them in the top spot for the evening and earned them the top money prize of $970. Second went to Havens Schatt riding Davenport, owned by Sherri Crawford.

The Limited Pro Go Round winner was Courtney Blaca and My Tiara. Courtney was also second in the Limited Pro Go Round with First Monday, owned by Meghan Barry, fifth riding Silhouette owned by Johnnie Martin-Carey and sixth with the Yates Hunter Jumper LLC owned Mt. Zion.

The top 20 Pro 3' riders returned on Friday, May 7, for their final round. After starting with a clean slate, Bohemia and Peter Pletcher completed the Ken Krome designed course with a beautiful and graceful ride to top the field and be crowned champion. Bohemia earned $2,500 for his efforts. Davenport, owned by Sherri Crawford and ridden by Havens Schatt, finished just .5 points behind to take second place and prize money of $1,509.

The champion in the Limited Pro 3' (sponsored by The Legacy Cup Supporters of Texas) was Gold Dust, ridden by Abigail Mort and owned by Jamie Barkhau. Gold Dust placed 11th in the Pro 3' Finals and won a payout of $226. As the highest placed Limited Pro 3' rider, Mort also won an additional $450 for her top placing in that line-up. Baca, who competed at the first Legacy Cup in Lexington, VA as a junior, followed in second, third and fourth place. Riders who are new professionals declare themselves as Limited Pro Riders and are eligible for awards in the go-round, the finals round and the overall Limited Pro Ranking.

The $10,000 Pre Green Incentive (sponsored by Janet Read) winner was Noah, ridden by Cookie Beck and owned by Lisa Cudahy (and earning $3,000 for their efforts) with second place and $2,200 going to Silent Movie ridden by Ken Smith and owned by Comfortside Farm. This is awarded to the top eight pre green horses in the Pro 3' division.

Riders only competed in one class, the Pro 3' Finals, but those results gave them their placings in that division as well as in the Limited and Pre-Green Incentive divisions.

"I love this format and I think we have some tweaking to do still, but its going to allow more people to participate in different parts of the country and get a feel for it without having to add an additional event on their schedule," said Colleen McQuay, a Legacy Cup Board Member and one of its founders.

PONIES "STRIKE A POSE" AT THE LEGACY CUP
A crowd was on hand to see the opening round of the Legacy Cup pony competition, sponsored by Kate Gibson and Shadyside Farm, on Saturday, May 8, 2004. Small pony Strike A Pose, ridden by Jennifer Waxman and owned by Whitney Roper, scored a 249 to take the top spot in the first of two rounds in a field of 23 ponies.

Ten small, nine medium and four large ponies traversed the Ken Krome designed course vying for their share of that night's $1,692 in prize money.

The final round of the Legacy Cup pony competition took place on Sunday, May 9, 2004. Waxman and Strike A Pose were the last pair to enter the ring and proceeded to win their second class of the week. They scored an incredible 270 to be crowned champion in the Legacy Cup pony competition. Waxman also received a jacket and cooler sponsored by Lane's End Pony Stables. Jennifer said of Strike A Pose, "he's really sweet."

Spectators watched the 20 returning qualified ponies, while enjoying an Ice Cream Social, sponsored by Lane's End Pony Stable. The pony division is open to junior riders and limited to ponies 14.2 hands and under. Small ponies jump 2'3", medium ponies jump 2'6" and large ponies jump 3' and riders started with a clean slate.

Their championship title earned them a check for $1,749 from a total Finals Round purse of $4,945, which was distributed to the 20 competitors who qualified. This was narrowed down from a field of 23 who competed on Saturday May 8 when $1,692 was distributed. Of that, $507 went to Strike a Pose. When it was all over, Strike A Pose had earned $2,256 for competing in the Go Round and the Finals (their share of the 70% payback monies distributed from the entry fees) at the third Legacy Cup, which was featuring ponies for the first time. Not bad for two days of hunter competition.

When asked how she liked the Legacy Cup Jennifer said, "I really like riding indoors," and she "really liked the course."
Waxman's win helped to earn her the week's Leading Pony Rider title and a total purse of $3,340.

Ande Farish, third in the first pony round said she, "had a fun ride."

Hugh Kincannon, manager of the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows said about the Legacy Cup competition, "We are real happy with the presentation and the turnout so far has been what we expected and maybe a little bit more. I think next week will be pretty big."

"The horse show welcomed us with open arms," said Michele Perla, Executive Director of the American Hunter Jumper Foundation, "we are thrilled to be working with the Kentucky Spring shows to host the third Legacy Cup."

Walter J. Lee, said of the judging system used in this Legacy Cup, "I think it's much better than just one person at each location, because you can talk back and forth with the person you are sitting with and I think the numerical system is good for the audience."

Peter Pletcher was awarded a $500 check as the top trainer (sponsored by EP Bishop Insurance Company) of the Legacy Cup's first week of competition. Pletcher earned a total of $4,312 by week's end. Pletcher said of the Legacy Cup, "They did a great job putting it on."

"You need a common place where people and horses want to come already; this is a huge added incentive," said Ken Krome. "It's really cool having it down in this ring. The fences only get used one other time during the year so it's all fresh and new."

Judge Walter J. Lee explained that anytime you can do something to showcase any kind of horse (in this case hunters) and get recognition for owners it's very valuable as owners often are the ones that are the hidden heroes.

Overall after the first week of this new Legacy Cup format consensus was that running it over three-weeks as part of another horse show was really working and the payout system was truly a home run.

DeVita concluded, "This is very first class. The prize money that they are giving, the incentives, the awards, it's all motivational to be here to show, to get here and to just be involved in it. That's really all any horse show strives to do is to make it special so people want to be there. Hopefully that's what this is all about."

For more information and daily results go to www.legacycup.com or call the AHJF at 508-835-8813.