July 24, 2005 – East Dorset, Vermont – Jimmy Torano riding Marlo, the big gray mare he owns with Sir Ruly, Inc., topped a field of 20 horses to win the $30,000 Otter Creek Grand Prix, his second consecutive Sunday Grand Prix win at the Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, Vermont.

Torano’s Grand Prix winning streak is now up to four wins in five weeks, including his victory at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, New York, and the I Love New York show in Lake Placid, New York. “I need to pinch myself,” laughed a delighted Torano. “It’s almost too good to be true. To win three in a row, and four out of five, is really pretty unbelievable.”

Marlo, a seven-year-old Dutch mare, was competing in her first Grand Prix. Torano noted that the long-term plan is for his wife, Danielle Torano, to compete Marlo in the Selection Trials for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Jimmy Torano rode three horses in the $30,000 Otter Creek Grand Prix, qualifying all three for the nine-horse jump-off. He claimed the win with Marlo, fifth place with Morgan owned by Sir Ruly, Inc., and ninth with last week’s winner, Edesa’s Caruso owned by Pirtle/Caruso Group, who retired on course. Danielle Torano rode two horses owned by Sir Ruly, Inc. and qualified Capitano for the tiebreaker, claiming third place, but had a rail in the first round with Gibson, which was still good enough for twelfth place.

Dave Ballard designed the Round One track of 14 jumps, winnowing out the nine horses for the seven-effort Jump-Off. Jimmy Torano led off the tiebreaker round with Marlo and set the pace at 32.179 seconds, which proved to be unbeatable. “She just has a huge stride,” Torano explained. “She was the only horse that was able to do eight strides down the last line. The other horses, even my own horses, were galloping for nine. She was fast everywhere but I think that really sealed it.”

Daniel Damen aboard his own Jewel Thief took second place, clocking in clean at 33.580 seconds. Danielle Torano gave it a shot with Capitano, going clear in 34.130 for third. Darragh Kerins riding Hot Wheels for owner Miranda Fisher was the only other rider to go double-clear today, but with a time of 34.158, he had to settle for fourth. Kerins also qualified Far West owned by Caristo & The Regos for the tiebreaker, but a rail down in 34.204 placed him sixth.

Torano said that going into the Grand Prix, he was confident that Marlo could win it, even though it was her debut at this level. “She’s been in three classes this week and she won all three – she won the open on Wednesday, the Mini Prix on Friday, and the Grand prix today,” noted Torano, praising the mare highly. “She’s just an unbelievable mare. She’s the best horse we have in our string. She’s just got so much quality. She’s careful, she’s scopey, she’s rangy, she’s got really everything you’d want in a horse. She has to get just a tiny bit more rideable and when that comes, she’ll be, in my opinion, everything. She’s a horse for the future for Danielle.” Torano said next year’s World Cup Championship Trials are premature in Marlo’s career. “But she should be the horse for Danielle to do the Olympic Trials on,” Torano stated.

Torano noted that his fifth placed horse Morgan could have been as fast as Marlo, but “the jump-off was very twisty-turny, and when you turned, the jumps just weren’t showing up like you’d like them to,” he said. “Even on Marlo, on the turn from six to seven in the jump-off, it just didn’t show up, but again with her scope and range, she was able to do it, no problem. That’s where it became a little bit of a hard jump-off because the jumps just weren’t showing up off the tight turns.”

Torano explained that on his third trip into the jump-off ring, this time aboard Edesa’s Caruso, “I probably went in there a little too hungry.” Torano retired after having a rail down at the second fence and then a refusal. “I was already winning the class and I knew Darragh Kerins was still behind me, so I could be beat. I jumped the first jump and I turned back way too tight. [Edesa’s Caruso] is a trier. I was way underneath the second jump. He went straight up in the air and down on the back pole. Then I lost my concentration and said, ‘why make him jump anymore?’ At that point I was already ninth so I just pulled up and saved him for another day.”

Torano was also coaching Danielle for her two rides, but noted, “Luckily all these horses are pretty much seasoned except my first horse,” he said. “After they jump the first round they really didn’t need a lot for the jump-off.”

Torano also credited his ground crew for today’s success. “Right now I have a very good staff and they’re all working together. We have seven grooms who each take care of three to four horses, but even those that didn’t have a horse in the Grand Prix today were all up here helping. They needed to be. We had a lot in it and fortunately all except one jumped clean, so everyone was lending a hand, which was nice.”

In earlier competition today, the Manchester Classic Horse Show featured the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series.

$10,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic
Joy Slater, 51, of Unionville, Pennsylvania, riding Shindig owned by her Fat Chance Farm won the $10,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic, besting a field of 18 horses. The riders jumped a first round course of 12 fences designed by Dave Ballard. Eight horses went clean and qualified for the jump-off. In the tiebreaker, only four horses were able to clear the course, with Slater and Shindig posting the fastest time for the win.

Round one included a triple at Fence 6 and a double at Fence 9. “It was a little bit awkward because it was straight lines and then a lot of squiggle turns,” said Slater. “And the last fence, a plank, was a long run to a vertical, but that shouldn’t bother me because I’ve ridden over timber where you have 120 strides between the verticals and you’re going faster and they don’t fall down – you do.” Slater is the first woman to win the Maryland Hunt Cup, claiming victory in 1980 and 1981 in the four-mile timber race that challenges horses with five-foot fences. But Slater acknowledged that on today’s course, the final plank was particularly challenging for her horse “because with him if you hold him, he’ll have it down. We got there nice and long and it suited him just fine. It just worked out perfectly.”

In the Jump-Off, the fourth rider to attempt the shortened course posted the first clear round, Megan Spilatro on her own Cleo, clocking in at 39.385 seconds, but the duo ended up in fourth place. Next in the order was defending champion of this class and the 2004 Show Jumping Hall of Fame title holder, Danielle Torano aboard Lojana, who took over the lead with a clean trip in 33.318, but they had to settle for second place. Slater was next to go and edged Torano out of the lead, crossing the timers in the unbeatable time of 33.222. Two more riders chased Slater, and only Kenzie Snyder aboard her own Aquarius was able to go clear, but with a time of 35.636 seconds, she had to settle for third.

“We had a really good cut to the Liverpool/Fence two combination,” explained Slater. “I guess that’s where we were actually able to beat Danielle because otherwise we’d never be able to beat Danielle. I did the four strides between [fences] one and two in the first round because Shindig is better not waiting and we did it again that way in the jump-off. Basically I try to leave strides out with him, which suits me because I tend to not see short spots.”

Slater noted that luck also played a part in her win. “We got to the two fence quite long and he went like a champ. Everything that was supposed to happen did. Occasionally it works like it’s supposed to!” she laughed.

Shindig is a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding that Slater has owned for five years. “He’s a good-guy horse,” she said, and noted that at home she does very little schooling over jumps with him and never rides circles. “We spend a lot of time trotting around the fields. We go out six times a week.”

In addition to her career as a show jumper, Slater grew up foxhunting in New Jersey where her mother was Master of Hounds in a local club. She later rode racehorses and steeplechasers. Former US Show Jumping Team Coach Frank Chapot was Slater’s coach as a junior and she won the Medal Finals at Harrisburg in 1971. Laura Chapot is Slater’s goddaughter and also her current trainer whenever they are at the same show.

Slater brought three horses to Vermont this week to compete. “I didn’t bring any clients. I’m just doing this for my own entertainment. I’m highly spoiled as they say,” she remarked with a laugh. Slater’s sense of fun is reflected in her farm’s unique name. “Fat Chance Farm – it’s a bit of fun and fun is worth it. The logo is a pig because horses behave like pigs sometimes and in the horse business there’s a fat chance you’re ever going to make any money!” she laughed, and added, “It’s nice to chuckle because we’re almost too serious.”

$5,000 Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic
For the second week in a row, Michael Kennedy riding his own Marco claimed victory in the $5,000 Low Junior/A-O Jumper Classic, besting a field of 29 entries. Riders jumped a course of 11 fences in the first round, and 11 riders managed to clear that track and move on to the six-fence tiebreaker. In the jump-off, eight of the 11 riders clocked in clean, with Kennedy and Marco posting the fastest time, 30.111 seconds, for the win.

Going first in the order, Julia Capalino aboard her own Natasja set the pace at 30.136 seconds, but finished in second place. Joy Slater attempted to take the lead with Olivier owned by her Fat Chance Farm, but her time of 31.184 was only good enough for fourth. Ariane Stiegler and her Q En Q went for a clear round in a steady 34.838, which earned her the seventh place ribbon. Dominique Mungin aboard Colani for Sand Castle Farm went next and loped the course clean in 35.174 to finish eighth. Alden Conner in the irons on his NZ Sheer Effect picked up the pace and tried to catch the leaders, but clocked in at 31.034 for third. Jacqueline Attwood-Dupont chased the time aboard Let’s Dance Jil owned by Hillary Schlusemeyer, but crossed the timers in 31.244, placing her fifth. Kennedy and Marco were next in the ring and blazed around the course in 30.11 seconds, which proved to be unbeatable. The last rider in the jump-off, Heather Dobbs riding her own Cobretti, took a shot at the win, going clean in 32.320, but had to settle for sixth place. Kennedy and Marco claimed $1,500 for the win.

$1,000 Low Children’s/Adult Jumper Classic
Hannah Maloy aboard her own Sylvia won the $1,000 Low Children’s/Adult Jumper Classic topping a field of 28 entries. Riders jumped a first round of 12 fences, with 12 riders going fault-free to qualify for the jump-off. Only five riders were able to clear the short course and notch double-clear performances, taking the top four slots in the results. Maloy and Sylvia clocked in at 32.597 for the win. Gareth Evans riding Donner for owner Blythe Masters placed second with a time of 33.93. Jessica Vollor aboard Caeli for owner Bobbi Jo Newberry was third, crossing the timers in 34.777. Ila Addanki riding Simply Baroque for Stepping Stone Farm was fourth with her time of 35.943

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.

The $30,000 Otter Creek Grand Prix wrapped up the Manchester Classic Horse Show, the second week of the five-week Vermont Summer Festival. Hunter/jumper competition continues next week with the Valley Classic Horse Show, July 27-31. Show jumping action at the Vermont Summer Festival takes place Wednesday through Sunday through August 14th at the Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, Vermont.

Tickets are $5 Adults, $3 Seniors, and $2 Children, with 100% of the gate proceeds donated to the Manchester Rotary Club to help fund their philanthropic initiatives. Gates open at 8:00am and the Sunday Grand Prix starts at 2:00 p.m.

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.