Lillie Keenan Tops Sam Edelman Equitation Championship Riding Levistano 2
The Sam Edelman Equitation Championship was held over two rounds on the grass derby field at The Stadium at PBIEC earlier on Saturday. Twenty-eight entries showed over the first round course set by Skip Bailey of Wellington, FL. The top 15 then returned for a second round. Performances were judged by Tucker Ericson and Ken Smith.
Top young rider Lillie Keenan of New York, NY, rode Heritage Farm Inc.’s Levistano 2, an eleven-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Levisto x Lord, to the Sam Edelman victory. The pair topped both rounds of competition with back to back scores of 89 for an unbeatable 178 point total.
Lillie Keenan and Levistano 2. Photo © Sportfot.
Keenan has been showing ‘Levi’ since the beginning of the FTI WEF circuit and has had several wins with him in the Platinum Performance USEF Show Jumping Talent Search, ASPCA Maclay and Pessoa USEF Hunt Seat Medal classes. Keenan explained that they have meshed well from the beginning and that although she had never ridden him on the grass until Saturday’s class, she was never worried.
“He had been schooled on the grass before with one of the trainers at Heritage, so I knew that he had already done it,” Keenan noted. “He doesn’t care about natural obstacles and really is brave so that is very helpful going into that ring, knowing your horse wants to go around.”
“I really like those classes,” Keenan added. “I like the galloping and I think that is a really fun type of class for the equitation because it still is testing your ability with the adjustments and it is kind of a stepping stone towards the jumpers, but it is in a really big ring, galloping around a field.”
Keenan and Levi won well over second place finishers Allison Toffolon and Class Action’s total of 170 from an 84 in round one and an 86 in round two. Third place went to Sydney Shulman and Back Country Farm’s Eli, who scored 85 and 83 for a 168 point total. Anna Cardelfe and Ulrich, owned by Gray Horse Farm Hamptons LLC, finished fourth on 167.5 with scores of 83 and 84.5.
Heritage Farm’s head trainer Andre Dignelli coached the top two finishers, Keenan and Toffolon. For the win, he was presented with a special $10,000 Trainer’s Award. Keenan credited Dignelli and the rest of the team at Heritage for the parts they played in her victory.
“Andre rode my horse this morning, so he gets all the credit for the preparation,” she smiled. “I could not ask for a better team. There is Andre and it is also everyone else at Heritage. Without them I would not have won. Going in there and knowing that everything has been done to make sure that you have the opportunity to win and now it is just your job to pull it through, it puts on the pressure, but also it is a really good feeling. I give all the credit to Andre and everyone at Heritage – and the horse.”
Lillie Keenan and Levistano 2 in their winning presentation with ringmaster Cliff Haines, Sam Edelman and Ashley Latsha for Sam Edelman, and Patricia Griffith and Andre Dignelli of Heritage Farm. Photo © Sportfot.
Final Results: Sam Edelman Equitation Championship
1. LEVISTANO 2 LILLIE KEENAN HERITAGE FARM, INC: 89, 89, 178
2. CLASS ACTION ALLISON TOFFOLON ALLISON TOFFOLON: 84, 86, 170
3. ELI SYDNEY SHULMAN BACK COUNTRY FARM: 85, 83, 168
4. ULRICH ANNA CARDELFE GRAY HORSE FARM HAMPTONS LLC: 83, 84.5, 167.5
5. CHARON JACOB POPE HERITAGE FARM, INC: 80, 84, 164
6. DRYDEN VICTORIA COLVIN ARIEL AND SUSAN GRANGE: 73, 85, 158
7. SAN REMO VDL GABRIELLE BAUSANOELIZABETH BENSON: 81, 76, 157
8. SKYFALL MCKAYLA LANGMEIER LINDA LANGMEIER: 79, 77, 156
9. CHARLESTON Z VICTORIA PRESS VICTORIA PRESS: 79.5, 72, 151.5
10. CHAWA T.J O’MARA THINKS LIKE A HORSE: 71, 75, 146
11. TOMBOLA TINA ROBINSON ASHLAND STABLES: 74, 71, 145
12. ALANJO ADDISON GIERKINK KATE HAMEL: 72, 70, 142
FTI WEF 