Babington & Kocher Light It Up Over 4th of July Weekend!

The 4th of July is always a wonderful time to take a well deserved respite, celebrating time off from work and the independence of our nation. While most American’s enjoy backyard BBQ’s and fireworks, it seems that many Wordley Martin clients were lighting the world on fire in the show ring!

During the 4th of July holiday our southern clients were on the move to horse shows at Tryon, Lake Placid and Canada, dominating the headlines in multiple press releases featuring these shows. Here are the highlights:

Kevin Babington Sets Show Record in Lake Placid!

Kevin has been a longtime client of Wordley Martin’s, originally having us design his ring at his old facility in Pennsylvania, and more recently at his facility in Loxahatchee, Florida. This past weekend at Lake Placid, Kevin set a horse show record by taking the top three spots in the $100,000 Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix presented by Aon! We are thrilled for Kevin’s success with all of his horses. Below is an excerpt from the final press release from Marty Bauman and Classic Communications.

Kevin Babington and Shorapur during the $100,000 Great American Insurance Group Grand Prix presented by Aon award presentation (c) The Book LLC

“Babington turned in three of the seven clean rides over the 16-effort, first-round course designed by Bernardo Costa Cabral of Portugal and then had the only three clean rides over the eight-jump tiebreaker course. He rode first in the jump-off on Shorapur, a 14-year-old, Hanoverian mare, and set what proved to be the winning mark, coming home clean in 33.212 seconds.

“Three rides later, Babington rode clean on Super Chilled, an 11-year-old, Irish Sport Horse gelding, but in a slightly slower time of 35.436 seconds for second place before ending the jump-off with his sixth clean ride of the day, coming home in third place with a time of 38.430 seconds on Mark Q, his 17-year-old, Irish Sport Horse gelding.

“I’ve been pinching myself ever since my last round. I never would have foreseen something like this happening,” said Babington following his fourth Grand Prix win in Lake Placid. “My horses have been in really good form and I was hoping for a couple of good rounds, but if someone had wanted to bet me that I’d be one-two-three, I never would have taken the bet.

“Babington’s performance, coupled with his second-place finish in the first week’s $100,000 Prevost Richard M. Feldman Grand Prix, earned him the Richard and Diana Feldman Perpetual Challenge Trophy for Excellence and $2,000 as the rider winning the most prize money in Lake Placid’s two Grand Prix events!”

For more details please visit www.lakeplacidhorseshows.com and check out Classic Communications social media feeds with some great interviews on their FB page, Twitter or Instagram!

Further North – Andy Kocher Earns Biggest Career Win to Date at Spruce Meadows!

Andy Kocher, who originally hails from State College, Pennsylvania – trained this past winter circuit out of Wordley Martin Equestrian in Wellington. Andy has taken a string of 10 horses up to Spruce Meadows in Canada for the entire summer circuit and the following news is really worth celebrating, as Andy has enjoyed huge success in Canada

Andy and Carolla. Copyright Mike Sturk for Spruce Meadows Media

Andy has several young talented horses and clients with him up at the Meadows, snagging top finishes throughout the season including: a win and a second in the June ATCO Young Horse class aboard Eye Candy Jumpers’ Squirt Gun and Abelone O.T., a win on July 3rd and a 2nd on July 6th in the 1.45 Ranking class aboard Squirt Gun, culminating with his biggest career win this past Saturday July 6th in the 1.60M ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup CSI 5* on his own Carolla!

Andy’s win aboard Carolla was the biggest of his career, and we’re happy to see how his perseverance is paying off in Canada this summer. Check out this great press conference after his big win and also this article by World of Show Jumping and this additional article from World of Show Jumping.

If you want to watch the instant replay of Andy’s celebratory last jump in the QEII Cup, check out his Instagram page or Facebook Page! In addition, Andy is now ranked 10th in the USHJA money earners for the 2019 show season! Congrats Andy.

Stay tuned throughout the summer for more highlights and news on our clients from Wordley Martin Equestrian.