Bridgehampton, NY—August 26, 2003—Leslie Howard of Westport, CT, was the winner of the Jaguar Open Speed competition at the 28th annual Hampton Classic Horse Show held in Bridgehampton, NY.

Proving the old adage, ‘it’s not over until it’s over!’, Howard was the second-last competitor in the 62-horse starting field. Riding Kenwi, Howard clocked in at 60.11 seconds to finish just ahead of Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY, riding the 13-year-old grey gelding, Cloud Nine, whose time of 60.71 seconds earned her second place. McLain Ward of Brewster, NY, was third riding Labelle.

Howard, an Olympic silver medallist, is known for her speed riding, but the win was simply a matter of planning.

“I only watched two people go, but I had my plan,” explained Howard. “I knew what strides I wanted to leave out and I knew what turns I wanted to make. She’s so fast across the ground I knew that I just had to stick to my plan.”

Howard has been riding Kenwi, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by David Goodwin of Fairfield, CT, for the past five years.

“She’s grown up here, she won her first class something like four years ago in the high preliminaries,” laughed Howard. “She’s super careful, extremely fast, and has a great mind. She’s always doing what she can to please. Now I am aiming her towards the $25,000 Sally Hansen Grand Prix on Saturday.”

The official luxury vehicle of the 28th Hampton Classic Horse Show, Jaguar’s long-time sponsorship is led by Skip Lehman of Mach II management. Jaguar’s slogan, ‘Born to Perform’, was the perfect fit for the Open Speed competition.