Kenny of Ireland wins Lake Placid on Gael Force
July 5, 2010LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) -Darragh Kenny of Ireland rode Gael Force to victory in the $75,000 Hermes Grand Prix CSI 2 on Sunday for the Whitney Perpetual Challenge Trophy to close the 41st Annual Lake Placid Horse Show.
Only five entries from the starting field of 24 succeeded in completing the 16-jump, first-round course designed by Olaf Petersen, Jr., of Germany without penalty. They returned for a nine-jump, tiebreaker against the clock at the North Elba Showgrounds.
First to go was Callan Solem of Chester Springs, Pa., who set the mark to beat by finishing fault-free in 47 seconds on VDL Torlando. Two rides later, Kenny, 22, moved Solem out of the lead with a clean ride in 46.39 seconds on his 12-year-old Irish horse, owned by Missy Clark and North Run.