Lexington, Kentucky, USA – May 27, 2018 – Ireland’s Paul O’Shea and Imerald Van’t Voorhof, a 10-year-old gelding owned by Tequestrian Farms LLC, won the FEI $70,000 CSI 2* Grand Prix, the feature event at the 2018 Lexington International CSI 2*, part of the Split Rock Jumping Tour.

Oscar Soberon designed a very challenging 16 jumping effort track for these horses and riders, which featured a diagonal line of four elements, a vertical, a skinny vertical and a one stride oxer vertical combination, which caused most of the faults in the class. Eleven pairs made it through to the jump off round from an original starting field of 45, with six of those turning in double clear rounds, but it was O’Shea’s day.

O’Shea displayed some very fancy footwork in the jump off, and they paid off for him and Imerald Van’t Voorhof. He made a daring inside turn immediately after the first fence where most riders opted to go the longer route, and it showed on the scoreboard as he passed through the timers in 36.07 seconds.

“He has a huge stride and he turns very easily,” said O’Shea. “That turn suited him very well. I also got a little lucky. I hadn’t had much luck this week so I’m glad it went my way today.”

Margie Engle (USA) & Dicas

Olympic veteran Margie Goldstein Engle had two horses advance to the jump off and as we have come to expect, she was fast, accurate and without faults. Engle placed second with the 9-year-old Dicas, owned by Show Horses Inc, Stormridge Capital and Gladewinds Farm.

Margie Goldstein-Engle (USA) & Indigo

Their jump off time of 38.27 placed Dicas ahead of Indigo, the other of Engle’s mounts in the class. Indigo, Engle’s 18 year old longtime partner, crossed the timers in 39.04 seconds for third place.

Full Results here.

Source: Press Release by Classic Communications for Split Rock Jumping Tour

Photos: © SRJT / Winslow Photography