Oct. 27, 2005 — Laura Chapot and Little Big Man won the $65,000 Budweiser Grand Prix de Penn National at the 60th Annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show October 22.
Chapot and her little chestnut gelding defeated a field of 25. The last of seven to qualify for the jump off, Chapot rode last, knowing there were three clear rounds already.
“I didn’t watch the other trips in the jump off,” she said, “but my father (Olympic equestrian Frank Chapot) did. He just gave me some tips on how the course was riding.”
Little Big Man, primed from his $25,000 PA Big Jump win October 20, galloped into the jump off to win on 38.92 seconds, 2.4 seconds ahead of reserve champion David Raposa aboard Audi’s Fanny De La Tour.
Canadian Olympic rider Jill Henselwood was third with Juniper Farm’s Special Ed, a mere 2/10 of a second behind Raposa. Anne Kursinski finished fourth on Lorenzo.
“This is a fabulous show, it improves every year,” said Chapot, who won the Leading Open Jumper Rider title. Little Big Man earned $17,000 and the Open Jumper Championship for his efforts.
