Traverse City, MI - Although the sunny summer skies turned dark and windy this morning at Flintfields, home of Horse Shows by the Bay, it didn't stop Sven Frei from bringing home the blue ribbon in the $3,000 NAL Open Speed class.

The class was sponsored by Shanty Creek Resorts, a golf and ski retreat located in Bellaire, MI, and drew about 10 entries. Today's course was designed by Michel Vailliancourt and featured a liverpool and two double combinations, one of which was a one stride set off a tight left-hand turn. Several riders had clear rounds but were not fast enough to catch Frei's time of 56.411 seconds with Quebec, a 13-year-old Oldenburg stallion by Quick Star.

"(Quebec) was stellar today - he was unbelievable," Frei explained. "He doesn't act like a stallion - he's very quiet, very docile and easygoing. I thought the course was good; challenging, yet fair and well built, as Michel always does. He just has a naturally big stride. He's not really a short, small, fast turning horse, but he's got a big, open step, so I try to use that to my advantage."

Distant Star 3E ridden by Roberto Teran of KingRidge Stables earned second place, while Melissa Anne Hirt and Galoupard finished in third place, tripping the timers in 58.975 seconds. Shane Sweetnam and Victor III and Triviant followed behind in fourth and fifth places, respectively. Benjamin Rosichan and Tahoe rounded out the top six spots.

In the 7&8 Year Old Young Jumpers, Teran took the top two spots with two 7-year-olds, Encore 3E and Executive Privilege 3E, respectively. Encore stopped the clock at 33.393 seconds, which narrowly beat Executive Privilege's time of 33.864 seconds for the win. Both horses are homebreds by KingRidge Stables of King, Ontario, Canada, and Teran said they are both aimed at the Young Jumper Championships.

Linda Radigan and LA-Olypmic jumped to third place with the fastest four-fault round, while Stefanie Collier and Clover All Over took fourth. Nora McDonald and Topliner and Ivan Rakowsky and Aavensis placed fifth and sixth, respectively.

In the 5&6 Year Old Young Jumpers, which were combined because of the number of entries, Casey Hodges of Aiken, SC, rode Rinaldi to the win over Shane Sweetnam and Ulla Blue. Hodges tripped the timers in 32.958 seconds to best Sweetnam's time of 35.091 seconds.

In today's High Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper division, Erin Haas and Chianti 67 emerged victorious out of the field of 10 entries. No horse and rider combination was double clear in the jump-off, but Haas had the fastest four-fault round. Kels Bonham piloted Orley to second place in the Highs, and Khari Taustin rode Katja to third place.

Competition will resume tomorrow morning in the grand prix ring at 8 a.m. Jumper highlights tomorrow include a $10,000 Welcome Prix and Low and High Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper classes. For complete results, please visit www.horseshowing.com.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sven Frei and Quebec, winners of the $3,000 NAL Open Speed class, with Deb Krausnak of Shanty Creek Resort, the presenting sponsor. Photo (c) 2007 Randi Muster.