The week’s hunter/jumper competition reached its pinnacle on Sunday during the ESP Year End Awards Show at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) when 50 challengers vied for the top honors in the $25,000 Year End National Grand Prix, presented by #1 Education Place. Turning in the best performance of the day, Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Oakland Ventures LLC’s Belo Horizonte concluded the show as the leaders of the victory gallop in the weekend grand prix, their second prize money win of the show. Competition will continue at PBIEC for the ESP Holiday II CSI4* from December 9-13, 2020, followed by three more shows to conclude the ESP Holiday Series ahead of the 2021 Winter Equestrian Festival, which begins January 6.

“This is a horse I got from Ashlee Bond at the end of the Winter Equestrian Festival earlier this year,” commented Kenny of Belo Horizonte, a 2008 Holsteiner gelding by Baloubet Du Rouet x Clearway. “It’s been a super horse for me, very careful and fast. I really like it and it’s a really good horse. He doesn’t have a massive stride, but he is very quick across the ground, so I just used that to my advantage today.”

Course designer Anthony D’Ambrosio (USA) crafted a pattern of 16 efforts up to 1.50m in height for exhibitors in the $25,000 Year End National Grand Prix, presented by #1 Education Place. Of the 50 entries in the first round, a slimmer field of seven returned for the jump-off. Juan Manuel Gallego (COL) and Havana De La Lande led the way as the pathfinders as the third in the order, and they were soon joined by Nicholas Dello Joio (USA), Kent Farrington (USA), Kenny, and Jessica Springsteen (USA). At the very end of the start list, Margie Engle (USA) and Spencer Smith (USA) turned in the final fault-free rounds to add two more to the list of clear contenders.

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