Caitlin Boyle and Prianti Van Het Mikkenhof Win $50,000 Kentucky Summer Grand Prix
Caitlin Boyle and Prianti Van Het Mikkenhof topped the leaderboard on Saturday night under the lights as show jumping action at the Kentucky Horse Park concluded with the $50,000 Kentucky Summer Grand Prix during the Kentucky Summer Classic. A 10-horse jump-off meant riders had to lay it all on the line and Boyle did exactly that with Prianti Van Het Mikkenhof. Summer Justus was hot on her heels aboard La Belle SCF, finishing just 7/10ths of a second behind Boyle for second place, while James Billington and Lemonade WB rounded out the top three.
“It feels great to win tonight,” smiled Boyle after leading the victory gallop. “I think my horse jumped amazingly. It’s been a minute since we’ve jumped under the lights and I know she always performs her best with a little bit of crowd excitement and the shine on the jumps. She really tries hard and puts in a little extra effort. I was excited for tonight and she delivered for me, so I am really happy!”
Jasen Shelley set a technical track that kept horses and riders focused from beginning to end for the final event of the week. It featured a vertical-oxer double combination and an oxer-vertical-vertical triple combination, and they finished the course with a bending line going past the gate. Ten athletes completed the course without error and advanced to the tiebreaker. The jump-off began over a new oxer rolling back to a new vertical before eventually making their way over the first part of the triple combination and galloping to the final wide oxer.
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