Welles and Cheska Win Series Year-End Championships
Tampa, FL—December 5, 2006—Cara Cheska, Haylie Jayne, Josephina Nor, and Amber Levine emerged as champions of the 2006 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series.
The Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series conducted its largest Series ever in 2006, with classes at 98 horse shows across the nation. This gave competitors an abundance of opportunities to accumulate points throughout the year. The Series featured separate divisions for amateur-owner and junior riders with separate standings kept for East and West Conferences.
Cara Cheska of Waukesha, WI, topped the amateur-owner division standings in the East Conference with 760 points aboard My Fair Lady. Whitney Weeks of Southport, CT, and her mount Subliem finished just behind Torano with 740 points. In third with 445 points was Alison Leone of Glen Rock, NJ, riding Galliano.
In the East Conference’s junior division, Haylie Jayne of West Simsbury, CT, and Jubulent took top honors with 1,040 points. Julie Welles, also of West Simsbury, CT, and Felix Des Noues finished in second place with 805 points. Addison Phillips of New York, NY, was third with 505 points aboard Flight.
In the West Conference, Josephina Nor of Rancho Santa Fe, CA, and Only One took top honors in the amateur-owner division with 550 points. Finishing in second place was Katherine Bardis of Pebble Beach, CA, who earned 495 points with Conquest Of Paradiso. The 2005 Hall of Fame Series champion, Tracy Kenly of Phoenix, AZ, rode Kirk to a third place finish with 240 points.
The top spot in the West Conference junior division standings went to Amber Levine of Temecula, CA, and Anna Karenina with a year-end total of 740 points. Behind Levine with 480 points was Hannah Selleck of Thousand Oaks, CA, on Bauer. Levine also finished the year in third place aboard another mount, Ketel One, with whom she earned 305 points.
Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series Year-End Championships
Following the completion of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series schedule, the Show Jumping Hall of Fame conducted Year-End Championships at the National Horse Show in Wellington, FL. Julie Welles and Cara Cheska emerged as the Junior and Amateur-Owner Champions, respectively. Each bested a field of the nation’s top horses and riders who had qualified for the Championships based on their performances in the Series throughout the year.
Welles rode her mount Felix des Noues to cap off an extremely successful junior career with the win in the $15,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Junior Championship
Welles and Aimee Aron on Jamaica were the only two clear rounds to compete in the jump-off. Welles went first and put down a fast round but with four faults. She finished in a time of 29.822 seconds.
Aron and Jamaica took a conservative approach going for the clear round, they had a light rub at the same jump Welles had and finished with four faults and a slower time of 32.171 seconds.
“We got lucky,” Welles admitted. “I made a mistake in the jump-off and had a rail. Aimee was cautious and tried to go clear and had a rail too. Luck was in our favor. This is my last junior jumper class, and it was a good way to end.”
Cara Cheska emerged victorious in the $15,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Amateur-Owner Championship. Cheska and My Fair Lady were the last pair to return for the jump-off. Chloe Wormer and Modra (Cheska’s old horse) went first with a clear round in 33.578 seconds. Charlie Jacobs and Pia entered next and had the fastest time of the jump-off, but they had a rail for four faults. Louis Jacobs and Kachina then took the lead going clean in 31.399 seconds. Cheska and My Fair Lady then tore around the course for a clear round in a winning time of 29.973 seconds.
The Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series is designed to give amateur-owner and junior riders an opportunity to compete at higher levels, and it serves as a proving ground for many riders who aspire to someday represent the United States in international competition. The Show Jumping Hall of Fame and Museum at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL, 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.
For more information about the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series, including complete final Series standings and results from the Year-End Championships, please visit the Show Jumping Hall of Fame website at www.showjumpinghalloffame.net.
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