Sprite and Laura Chapot Wrap Up Thursday’s Final Acorn Hill Speed Challenge with Win and Series Championship

Tampa, FL – March 30, 2006 – Laura Chapot and her electrifying, gifted little mare Sprite put an exclamation point on another season of success at the Winter Equestrian Festival, with a win in Tampa in the finals of the nine week long Acorn Hill Farm Speed Challenge Series. In its 34th year, the festival is drawing to a close this week at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center on the Florida State Fairgrounds.

The Acorn Hill Speed Challenge, a North American League (NAL) event, is scored under Table II, Sec 2.1, Time First Round. Olaf Petersen, Jr. of Germany is the Course Designer this week at the Covered Arena.

Twenty-three starters took to the field for the mid-morning feature. Five of those competitors were clear over the one round challenge, while another nine horse and rider combinations had four faults. Nine had eight faults or more.

Laura Kraut and Tiffany, listed first on today’s starting order, were the early leaders in the class. Kraut raced home in 70.050 seconds and kept that lead for nearly three quarters of the class. Brianne Goutal, who on her first mount Onira, had Kraut’s time beat but pulled a rail, did not make that mistake on her second chance. Riding out of the eighteenth spot on the list, Goutal left all of the fences standing with her second horse Casar and clocked in at 67.301 seconds to take over the top spot.

With the Acorn Hill Speed Series already locked up weeks ago, Laura Chapot and Sprite hardly needed the extra advantage of the final spot in today’s jumping order. Chapot and her dazzling grey mare did what they have been doing consistently now for three seasons, sending the competition home disappointed. Chapot dashed home in 66.843 seconds for the victory.

Chapot talked about her race to the finish and a missed opportunity for an inside cut. “She landed so forward after the in and out, and because the turn came up so quickly after the jump, I couldn’t get her turned around that fast,” she explained. “She’s so strong and bold; she thought she knew where she was going. But just her natural speed is so great that she was able to win without that inside cut.”

“I watched Brianne go, so I knew what I had to do,” Chapot said. “I know my horse is very fast and very careful, so I left out a stride from fence three to four, which I knew I could do easily. She just covers a lot of ground.”

“I really don’t know where the speed comes from,” laughed Laura’s father, five-time Olympian Frank Chapot. “If you see her just trot in the ring, she’s not a beautiful mover, and she doesn’t show much length of stride trotting. Our luck with her comes from not training her,” he detailed. “We don’t put draw reins on her or make her tuck her head. We just let her stick her head out there and do her own thing. And she does it pretty well. She’s very, very careful, and she’s got beautiful form jumping.”

He went on to say, “She was a little bit unlucky early in the circuit. She finished second a lot of times. But, it wasn’t the same horse beating us each week. No horse can steadily compete with her.” And he added, “If she were a little bit bigger, she might be another Gem Twist.”

Sprite and Chapot won the season series for the third year in a row, and took home top honors in the 1.40m Circuit Championship for the third time. “She’s been Circuit Champion every year that I’ve owned her,” said Chapot.

Results of Class 1005 $6000 1.40M Acorn Hill Challenge Table II Sec 1 - Tournament of Champions CSI – Covered Arena – 3/30/06

• 1 132 LAURA CHAPOT SPRITE 0.00 66.843 $1850 LAURA CHAPOT
• 2 530 BRIANNE GOUTAL CASAR 0.00 67.301 $1200 CLOVERLEAF FARM
• 3 382 LAURA KRAUT TIFFANY 0.00 70.050 $635 THE TIFFANY GROUP
• 4 549 EDUARDO SALAS HERRER RMW GUMARO 0.00 74.396 $400 ROCKYMT WARMBLOODS
• 5 923 EMILY WILLIAMS SATELLITE 0.00 79.603 $325 EMILY WILLIAMS
• 6 529 BRIANNE GOUTAL ONIRA 4.00 68.029 $275 CLOVERLEAF FARM
• 7 136 LAURA CHAPOT THREE COINS 4.00 68.831 $275 WINDSOME FARM LTD
• 8 227 IAN MILLAR NERO 4.00 69.770 $250 SUSAN GRANGE
• 9 734 MICHAEL MORRISSEY SCEAL EILE 4.00 70.032 $250 CLOVERLEAF FARM
• 10 244 CANDICE KING CONSTANTI 28 4.00 72.004 $180 JOAN KALMAN
• 11 867 NORMAN DELLO JOIO MALCOLM 4.00 74.749 $180 MALCOLM GROUP
• 12 547 JAIME GUERRA SANTA TERESITA SALAMANCA 4.00 77.288 $180 SANTA TERESITA

The North American League (NAL) runs season-long series in six hunter-jumper divisions – Children’s Hunter, Children’s Jumper, Adult Hunter, Adult Jumper, Pony Jumper and Open Jumper Speed. Each series culminates with a championship final at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, PA in October. Riders need not be members of the NAL to compete in any qualifying classes, but only current members earn points toward year-end finals. For more information, a list of qualifying competitions and results, please see the Ryegate Show Services website at www.Ryegate.com.

FINAL STANDINGS – ACORN HILL FARM SPEED CHALLENGE SERIES

PHOTO CREDIT: Laura Chapot and Sprite take final Acorn Hill Farm Speed Challenge at Winter Equestrian Festival. Photo by Randi Muster.