Tampa, FL—December 22, 2005— Danielle Torano, Alex Parrish, Tracy Kenly, and Lauren Hester emerged as champions of the 2005 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series.
The Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series conducted its largest Series ever in 2005, with classes at 94 horse shows across the nation. This gave competitors an abundance of opportunities to accumulate points throughout the year. The Series featured separate divisions for amateur-owner and junior riders with separate standings kept for East and West Conferences.

For the second consecutive year and third overall, Danielle Torano of Fort Lauderdale, FL, topped the amateur-owner division final standings in the East Conference with 585 points aboard Lojana. This is the same mount on whom Torano led the Series in 2001 and 2004. Paige Johnson of The Plains, VA, and her mount Reddy Teddy finished just behind Torano in the Series standings with 570 points. In third with 525 points was Larry Hollahan of Cynthiana, KY, riding Sky King.
In the East Conference’s junior division, Alex Parrish of Midway, KY, and Cat’s Charly proved themselves unbeatable, taking top honors with 470 points. Alexandra Wolff of New Albany, OH, and Hertel Landman finished in second place with 435 points. Aimee Aron of Keswick, VA, was third with 420 points aboard Jamaica.

In the West Conference, Tracy Kenly of Phoenix, AZ, and Kirk took top honors in the amateur-owner division with a score of 370 points. Finishing in second place was Jaime Azcarraga of Mexico, who earned 355 points with Chac-Mool Radio Formula. Another Mexican rider, Eduardo Sanchez Navarro, rode Scappino Pininfarina Maximus to a third place finish with 290 points.

The top spot in the West Conference junior division standings went to Lauren Hester of Rancho Santa Fe, CA, and Oxford with a year-end total of 425 points. Behind Hester with 330 points was Katherine Bardis of Pebble Beach, CA, on Mademoiselle. Finishing the year in third place with 310 points was Hannah Selleck of Thousand Oaks, CA, aboard Cirka Z.

Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series Year-End Championships
Following the completion of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series schedule, the Show Jumping Hall of Fame conducted Year-End Championships at the National Horse Show in Wellington, FL. Whitney Weeks and Lila Sessums emerged as the Junior and Amateur-Owner Champions, respectively. Each bested a field of the nation’s top horses and riders who had qualified for the Championships based on their performances in the Series throughout the year.

Weeks, of Wellington, FL, rode her mount Subliem to the win in the $15,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Junior Jumper Championship. Topping a starting field of 12 horse-and-rider combinations, Weeks produced two clear rounds, including a clear round in the jump-off. She stopped the timers in the jump-off in a winning time of 40.023 seconds.

In addition to Weeks and Subliem, only two other horse-and-rider pairs jumped clean over the first round course. The Reserve Championship went to Hillary Dobbs of Sussex, NJ, who also had a clear finish in the jump-off but failed to beat the time set by Weeks. Dobbs finished in a time of 42.108 seconds on VDL Lotus Excel. Haylie Jayne of Elgin, IL, and Cartier finished third with 12 faults in a time of 41.578 seconds.

Lila Sessums of Clinton, MS, emerged victorious in the $15,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Amateur-Owner Championship. Sessums and her mount Continental B were one of three horse-and-rider combinations out of the starting field of 15 to produce a fault-free ride in the first round.

Sessums then produced the only clear round over the shortened jump-off course, stopping the clock at 42.546 seconds. The Reserve Championship went to Louis Jacobs of East Aurora, NY, turned in the round’s fastest time of 38.557 seconds, but who received four faults for a rail down aboard Caucalis. Blythe Masters of New York, NY, also had a rail down for four faults, and her time of 39.100 seconds on Camaro 48 earned her a third place finish.

The Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series is designed to give amateur-owner and junior riders an opportunity to compete at higher levels, and it serves as a proving ground for many riders who aspire to someday represent the United States in international competition. The Show Jumping Hall of Fame and Museum at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL, was established to promote the sport of show jumping and to immortalize the legends of the men, women and horses that have made great contributions to the sport.

For more information about the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series, including complete final Series standings and results from the Year-End Championships, please visit the Show Jumping Hall of Fame website at www.showjumpinghalloffame.net.