July 17, 2005 – East Dorset, Vermont – Danielle Torano of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, aboard Lojana won the $10,000 Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper Classic today at the Manchester Summer Festival in East Dorset, Vermont. Torano bested a field of 20 horses and topped an 11-horse jump-off. Torano and Lojana are the titleholders of this class in the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series, having won the Year-End Show Jumping Hall of Fame award last year. Torano has been riding the 12-year-old Mecklenberg mare for seven years and they’ve also earned the USEF Horse of the Year Award twice. “You have to have a good horse to do well in these classes and she’s a good horse!” said Torano. “She’s fast and careful and she knows her job. I go in the ring and basically I have to steer and hold on, because she’s going!” Natalie Johnson riding her own Rhythm & Blues placed second. Nikko Ritter riding Qroquant Z owned by Ritter-Peralta & Seab placed third.

The pressure was on Torano in more ways than one today – not only are she and Lojana the titleholders, but they also won this class all three times they contested it last year, plus she was competing in front of the mare’s owner, Sir Ruly. Sir Ruly, who is also the uncle of Danielle’s husband Jimmy Torano, recently built a summer home in the area and was watching Torano and his mare with a large group of friends. “Vermont’s become a little bit of a hometown for us,” said Torano. “We know a lot of people here now, so it’s fun for us to come but we also put a little bit of pressure on ourselves coming here too!”

Eleven horses were clean over the first round, 12-jump track built by course designer Anthony D’Ambrosio, and moved on to the eight-fence jump-off. The lead changed hands several times as four riders before Torano put in clean trips. Ritter set the pace with the first clean round, tripping the timers in 40.823 seconds, but finished in 3rd place. Maggie McAlary aboard Pedro posted the next clean round, but her time of 42.34 seconds was only good enough for 5th. Carly Campbell-Cooper riding her own Santa Lucia logged a double-clear performance, but her time of 41.91 landed her in 4th. Johnson and Rhythm & Blues momentarily claimed the lead with a lightning round in 40.70, but were edged out two rides later by Torano. Torano’s time of 38.53 easily clinched the win.

Torano clocked in more than two seconds faster than her closest competitor, and she explained that she used several strategies to achieve the fast time – she tried to stay inside the tracks of the previous riders, and twice she put on extra speed when she thought she needed to make up time – after she pulled on the reins before Fence 8, and after she added a stride before the double at 9AB. “When I got turning to the last jump I thought, ooh, I’m on top of this thing!” Torano shared, but again gave full credit to her mare. “But it doesn’t really matter with her. If I’m anywhere within the vicinity, I can count on her all the time.”

Torano also had help from husband Jimmy who was ‘coaching’ from the in-gate while she was on course. “I heard him down there, Go! Go!” laughed Torano, and acknowledged that his input influenced her. “I know he’s watching the clock. When I pulled to that jump, I thought I better go and he thought the same thing. I don’t hear anybody else, but I hear him.”

Coming to Vermont this year, Torano considered entering Lojana in the Grand Prix classes, a level the mare had competed in as a nine-year-old. “She got hurt three years ago and had to have surgery on her ankle and they gave her a 50/50 chance of coming back, so when she came back I promised her I would never do the Grand Prixes on her again,” explained Torano. “I’m sticking to it. She’s so competitive that she probably could do it, but I’m not going to push it. She’s too good of a horse.”

With fans, friends, and relatives around her, and her wonderful mare, Torano was pleased with the win. “It felt great!” she said.

$5,000 Low Junior/A-O Jumper Classic
Michael Kennedy riding his own Marco topped a field of 17 entries to claim the $5,000 Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic. In the five-horse jump-off, Kennedy and Marco posted the fastest time, 34.09 seconds, and were the only pair to go clear over the short course, claiming the honor of being the sole combination to put in a double-clear performance in the class. Sarah Becker aboard Kahlua owned by Becker and B&B Saddlery placed second with a four-fault jump-off in 35.31 seconds. Julie Welles riding Air Force for owner Ellen Mitchell was edged into third by fractions – the duo had a rail down in 35.91 seconds in the jump-off.

$1,000 Low Children’s/Adult Jumper Classic
Caitlin Darnall in the irons on Jiffy Pop owned by Stepping Stone Farm won the $1,000 Low Children’s/Adult Jumper Classic, topping a field of 28 entries. Ten riders cleared the first round track, and of those, seven were able to clear the jump-off course, but Darnall prevailed as the fastest of the double-clear performances. Hannah Alexander riding her own It’s Kinda Magic placed second. Carolyn Lichtenberg aboard Impeccable for owner Spring Meadow Farm placed third. Seven horses managed to put in double-clear performances in the class.

The Vermont Summer Festival features the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series. The Show Jumping Hall of Fame and Museum at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, was established to promote the sport of show jumping and to immortalize the legends of the men, women, and horses that have made great contributions to the sport. The Show Jumping Hall of Fame also conducts the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series at nearly 100 horse shows across the country. The series kicked off in February and continues through November, culminating in a Year-End Championship to be held at the National Horse Show in Wellington, Florida.

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JULY 13-17 – Manchester Summer Festival
JULY 20-24 – Manchester Classic Horse Show
JULY 27-31 – Valley Classic Horse Show
AUGUST 3-7 – Manchester & the Mountains Horse Show
AUGUST 10-14 – Vermont Summer Celebration

As per tradition, the Vermont Summer Festival will feature a $10,000 Mini Prix every Friday, as well as a $30,000 Grand Prix held each Sunday for the first four weeks. New for 2005, the Vermont Summer Festival will conclude with a grand finale, the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix. Each of the five weeks will also feature a $10,000 Show Jumping Hall Of Fame High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper class, part of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series. Marshall & Sterling and North American League (NAL) classes are also held throughout the five weeks of competition.

For further information on the 2005 Vermont Summer Festival, please visit www.vt-summerfestival.com, e-mail: info@vt-summerfestival.com or call (802) 496-9667 or (802) 362-9023.