McLain Ward Wins $30,000 FarmVet Jumper Classic in Lake Placid

Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist McLain Ward celebrated his return to Lake Placid with a win in the $30,000 FarmVet Jumper Classic Thursday at the I Love New York Horse Show, the second week of the 49^th annual Lake Placid Horse Shows, presented by Sea Shore Stables, LLC and sponsored by Bainbridge Farms, LLC. Nine of 35 entries reached the tiebreaking jump-off by riding clean over the 13-jump, 16-effort first-round course designed by Michel Vaillancort. Ward, the 2017 FEI World Cup champion and currently the world's number two ranked rider, was the first to tackle the eight-jump jump-off course and he rode HH Gigi's Girl to a clean ride in 37.634 seconds to set the mark to beat.

None of the remaining entries could catch Ward's score. Coming closest was Irish Olympic veteran Kevin Babington, winner of last Sunday's $75,000 Prevost Richard M. Feldman Grand Prix. Babington placed second on Super Chilled with a fault-free jump-off ride in 38.303 seconds. Third place went to Catherine Tyree with a clean jump-off ride in 39.672 seconds on Enjoy Louis.