JULY 2022 THE RIDER /47


Laura Chapot’s Win in the $100,000 Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix Highlighted the 2022 Lake Placid Horse Show


Lake Placid, NY – July 5, 2022 – A win by Laura Chapot on Chandon Blue in the $100,000 Great Ameri- can Insurance Group Grand Prix Presented by Alliant Private Client culminated the first week of show jump- ing at the 2022 Lake Placid


Horse Shows, Sponsored by Bainbridge Farms, LLC, and Presented by Sea Shore Stables, LLC. One of the premier stops on the na- tion’s hunter-jumper horse show circuit,


full schedule of world-class competition with more than $600,000 in prize money. Chapot rode two of the


the Lake


Placid Horse Shows run June 28-July 10, offering a


four entries from the starting field of 21 that managed to go clean over the 16-effort, first-round course designed by Nick Granat. Joining her


a massive stride, and we were able to leave one out at each of the first two. He was really focused today; he felt super energetic and ready to do the job. I just tried to stick to my plan, and he re- ally came through.” As the winning rider,


Chapot received wine from J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines and a $1,000 gift certificate to the Lake Placid Horse Show merchandise booth compliments of Sea Shore Stables. Prior to the Grand


Prix, Zayna Rizvi rode Ex- cellent to the win in the $10,000 Mirror Lake Inn High


Junior/Amateur


Jumper Classic, a member event of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Clas- sic Series. Rizvi and Excel- lent earned the win with two clean rides and the fastest jump-off time of 34.855 sec- onds. Rizvi, who also won the class last year on Excel- lent, received a custom sad- dle rack from Dave Fowler. |


In the opening cere- Zayna Rizvi and Excellent © KindMedia


were the defending cham- pion Alex Matz, whose fa- ther Michael was an Olympic


teammate of


Chapot’s father Frank, and 16-year-old Zayna Rizvi. Matz, who won the


Catherine Olsen with Laura Chapot and


Chandon Blue. R: Javier Melendez with Michael Desiderio and Cocolores.


class last year on Cashew CR, was first to return for the eight-effort tiebreaker course, and he turned in a clean ride in 36.882 seconds on Ikigai. Chapot then fol- lowed on her 17-year-old Oldenburg gelding and as is her wont, blazed over the course, finishing clean in 33.903 seconds. Rizvi fol- lowed with a clean ride in 35.933 seconds on Exquise Du Pachis, putting her in second place and assuring Chapot of her sixth Grand Prix win in Lake Placid. Chapot closed the jump-off with a clean ride on Di- arado’s Flying Dutchman in 36.510 seconds which was good for third place. “He loves it up here


and the footing was great, so he jumped really, really well,” Chapot said. “He has


monies, the horse show hon- ored Andre Garso as the winner of the horse show’s Outstanding Friend or Offi- cial Award. Graso has served the horse show and town of Lake Placid for decades, most visibly as the “Energizer Bunny” who never stops hustling in en- suring that food is always plentiful and fresh for the horse show’s exhibitors. Sunday also featured


the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby presented by Lukens Horse Transporta- tion. Winning the Open di- vision over a field of 22 horses was Cocolores, owned by Debbie Bianco and shown by Michael Desiderio. The Lake Placid Horse


Show teamed with The Grooms Award Ltd. in pre- senting gifts and awards to the grooms of horses in the Grand Prix and Hunter Derby. All the grooms of horses in the two classes re- ceived gifts and the grooms of the winning horses – Catherine Olsen of Chapot’s Chandon Blue and Javier Melendez of Desiderio’s Cocolores – received addi- tional awards. A special ceremony


was held following the $5,000 John R. Steele Me- morial Children’s Jumper Classic that honored the late Dr. John R. Steele. Dr. Steele was the beloved vet- erinarian for many years at the Lake Placid Horse Shows and many other shows on the big league show jumping circuit. He was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 2008.


The horse show also


Andre Grasso receives congratulations from Philip Richter, Chairman of the LPHS Association © KindMedia


featured the Juliam Farm Lead Line Class with riders aged 2-7 and the Barn Dec- orating Contest, which was won by Holly Hill Farm (above). Many of the week’s


Laura Chapot on Chandon Blue © KindMedia


Andre Grasso receives congratulations from Philip Richter, Chairman of the LPHS Association © KindMedia


division champions were honored in the Saratoga Horseworks Parade of Champions, including Ce- cilia, Grand Hunter Cham- pion and Grand Green Hunter Champion with Amanda Steege (below). The horse show also


held its annual exhibitor golf tournament which was one by Andrew Slattery of Bellwyn Farm


Michael Desiderio on Cocolores © KindMedia


Friends and family of Dr. John Steele were on hand for a ceremony in his honor. © KindMedia


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