Emanuel Andrade Wins 2015 Hagyard Challenge Series $50,000 Leading Rider Award

September 29, 2015 — For the third year in a row, the $50,000 Hagyard Leading Rider Award was presented to a Venezuelan rider, but this time it was to young rider Emanuel Andrade. At just 19 years old, Andrade has taken the international show jumping scene by storm. He kicked off the Hagyard Challenge Series with a win during the Kentucky Spring Classic, and then went on to place first and second during the KHJA Horse Show to top the overall leader board.

Emanuel Andrade Wins 2015 Hagyard Challenge Series $50,000 Leading Rider Award (Kendall Bierer/Phelps Media Group)

“I want to really thank God and everyone on my team that is helping me everyday to be successful,” said Andrade. “It was very hard – it wasn’t easy. There was a high level of competition.”

Andrade added, “I want to thank Hagyard for the amazing sponsorship that they do every year. It is a great motivation and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I am very happy and very proud of my team and my horses.”

The Hagyard Challenge Series is a summer-long series of seven show jumping events at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Andrade’s consistent efforts helped him capture the top spot, while David Beisel finished second at the end of the Series.

Last year, the Hagyard Challenge Series introduced an additional $10,000 rider bonus for the runner-up. Beisel collected the secondary bonus, taking home top ribbons throughout the series and winning the Hagyard Lexington Classic during the Bluegrass Festival Classic.

“I am very thankful to Hagyard and everybody involved for putting on a great series,” said Beisel. “We were excited to participate and it is a great bonus at the end of the season. Thank you to the Kentucky Horse Shows for putting on such great events. I also have to thank the owners of the horses, Equine Holdings LLC and Harlow Investments, because I could not have done it without them.”

Hagyard Equine Medical Institute’s Dr. Stuart Brown commented, “We at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute are proud to help support the equestrian community through the Hagyard Challenge Series. The series attracts the best in show jumping, and we’re grateful that, with the support from our valued partners here in the Lexington community, we can award the Leading Rider Award and Reserve Champion Bonus. The equestrian and racing communities have embraced The Betsy Gala-which benefits the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and is held during the final show in the series-and made it extremely successful, which everyone at Hagyard appreciates, as we’ve lost too many loved ones to cancer. We’re looking forward to continuing the tradition of the Hagyard Challenge Series next year.”

Hagyard Equine Medical Institute is one of the oldest and largest equine veterinary practices in the world. Founded in 1876, the institute offers a staff with qualifications unparalleled by any single non-university veterinary group in the equine industry, and Hagyard veterinarians have dedicated themselves to the health and wellbeing of the horse.

The facility at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute offers 13 Digital Radiology systems, 1.5 Tesla Siemens MRI, Nuclear Scintigraphy, an on-site laboratory, an on-site pharmacy, full surgical services, 24-hour emergency services and Hyperbaric Medicine. The institute has practiced veterinary medicine since 1876 and is currently composed of over 50 experienced veterinarians, with 13 board certifications in specialty areas of Medicine, Surgery, Critical Care, and Theriogenology. For more information about the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute please visit http://hagyard.com.

Several generous sponsors have helped make this exciting series event happen. These gracious supporters include: title sponsor MWI Veterinary Supply, and presenting sponsor Zoetis, as well as Audi of Lexington, Dean Dorton Allen Ford, Hagyard Pharmacy, Brook Ledge Horse Transportation, Hallway Feeds, Pike and Preston, and Stoll Keenon Ogden.

New this year, Brook Ledge Horse Transportation also awarded a $1,000 shipping voucher to the Leading Rider and a $500 shipping voucher to the Reserve Champion Leading Rider.

For more information about the Kentucky Summer Series, please visit www.KentuckyHorseShows.com.

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