Kevin Babington Races to North American League Speed Stake Win at 110th Annual Monmouth County Horse Show

Freehold, NJ – August 18, 2005 – It was another gorgeous day at the 110th Annual Monmouth County Horse Show at East Freehold Park in Freehold, New Jersey. A full schedule of jumper activities in the Stillwell-Hansen Arena was highlighted by the $3000 NAL Open Speed Stake, a member event of the North American League Open Speed Series.

Blake Alder of Germantown, Tennessee, is the Grand Prix course designer for the week. Eighteen competitors went to the post in a 4:30pm start. Scoring was under USEF Table II, Sec 1, Time First Round or “Fastest Clear Round.”

Callan Solem aboard Warsaw, owned by the Quiet Winter Farm of Colts Neck, NJ, set the early pace out of the third slot in the jumping order, clocking in with a clean round in 53.986 seconds. Solem’s lead lasted only until the next competitor Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, NJ, raced across the finish line. Riding Noteworthy, owned by her mother, Olympian Mary Chapot, Chapot tripped the timers in 52.387 seconds, knocking 1.59 seconds off of Solem’s previous top time.

Andrew Philbrick, riding out of the seventh spot in the order, would be the next to challenge for the top spot. Partnered with E-Ticket, owned by Inc C-Ray Investments, Philbrick caught Chapot’s time, but pulled the final fence. His time was 52.328, but the four faults accumulated for the knockdown dropped him out of contention for a ribbon.

The lead would change hands for good with Kevin Babington of Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania, and his mount, Iago du Quesnoy. Entering the fray from the thirteenth spot in the order, Babington, a 2004 Olympian for his home country of Ireland, made all of the inside cuts and flew home in 51.309 seconds, chopping 1.07 seconds off of Chapot’s time.

Laura Chapot had one final shot on Silver Lining, another horse owned by her mother, Mary Chapot. As fast as she was, Chapot could only manage to edge out her previous mount Noteworthy for second place in the final standings, breaking the beams in 52.362 seconds. Chapot would settle for second and third.

Babington knew that he’d have to be at the top of his game to catch Chapot. “When you go up against Laura and you’re riding to win, it makes you ride better and makes you take more chances,” he said. “But, you had better be good.”

“Iago Du Quesnoy is a 9 year old that Michael Whitaker sent over to me just ten days ago,” said Babington. “He won a Level 6 class at Sussex County last week, and then I did him in the $10,000 class and he had the fastest time with one down.”

Babington detailed where he was able to seal the deal today. “When I walked the course, I thought it was an eight, but then I saw that most people were getting down there in seven, so I did that comfortably,” he said. “I noticed that the winning rounds were all in pretty much the same number range, so I just tried to tighten up my turns a little bit. I turned back very tight to the 3AB combination and he was super doing that and I think that’s where I might have gained that extra bit of time.”

Babington also had praise for this week’s Course Designer. “Blake’s done very nice courses. The courses for the young horses were very inviting and confidence building, and today he built an excellent course for the speed,” said Babington. “He gave you a number of places where you could turn inside or leave strides out. On all of his courses, he gives you one or two places for an inside move that’s not crazy, but can make the difference of finishing in the top three or not.”

The highlight on the early afternoon Friday schedule in the Stillwell-Hansen Arena is the $10,000 US Mortgage Open Welcome Stake Class. The main event, the $35,000 Stillwell-Hansen Grand Prix, is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

The North American League (NAL) runs season-long series in six hunter and jumper divisions – Children’s Hunter, Children’s Jumper, Adult Hunter, Adult Jumper, Pony Jumper, and Open Jumper Speed. Each series culminates with a championship final at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, PA, in October. Riders need not be members of the NAL to compete in any qualifying classes, but only current members earn points toward year-end finals. For more information and a list of qualifying competitions for 2005, please visit the Ryegate Show Services website at www.Ryegate.com.

Official Results - $3000 NAL Open Speed Stake – Table II, Sec 1. Level 7

Member event of the North American League Open Speed Series

1-794-Iago Du Quesnoy - Kevin Babington -Kevin Babington- 0/51.309

2-565-Silver Lining –Mary Chapot – Laura Chapot – 0/52.362

3-559- Noteworthy Mary Chapot -Laura Chapot 0/52.387

4-574- Warsaw -Quiet Winter Farm Callan Solem -0/53.986

5-575- Haiti Du Serein -Quiet Winter Farm -Callan Solem -0/54.359

6-67-Play On- Allan Shore Jr.-Beezie Madden -0/54.936

7-306-Jillaroo – Kiwi Partners - Christopher Karpowicz – 0/54.980

8-438- BB Carvallo-Winley Farm Llc.-Carsten Jaeger -0/55.444

PHOTO CREDIT: Iago Du Quesnoy and Kevin Babington win NAL Speed. Photo by Kenneth Kraus