Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 28, 1993 TAG: 9306280271
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Rudd's show-jumping peers and an adoring audience at the Salem Civic Center could similarly marvel at the equestrian powers Rudd has summoned as she matured.
Rudd, at 43 the eldest of the riders who took 11 mounts into the jumpoff of the ninth Grand Prix of Roanoke on Sunday afternoon, took a spectacularly swift cruise aboard P.S. Gazpacho to claim the title of the $125,000 conclusion of the Roanoke Valley Horse Show.
"Thank God it's over," she said, beaming through her spectacles as she dismounted after a triumphal victory tour of the ring in front of 2,551 fans.
The $37,500 first-place purse from the richest event of its kind in the United States and Canada represented her biggest payday in a distinguished career. It was also her second title here, the first coming in 1990. She became Roanoke's first repeat winner on the same horse.
But she said that this ride atop the 11-year-old bay gelding was different than her previous championship run here.
"This is a much better horse than he was then," she said. "He was a long time growing up. It's a horse that I've really gone slowly with over the years. If I hadn't, it would have blown his mind. He's really ready to run now."
As he most briskly demonstrated with a 34.951-second scorcher of a romp through the Fuzzy Mayo-designed jumpoff route. Rudd, who had taken a faultless run with Alf earlier in the jumpoff, had the additional advantage of being the 10th jumper in the extra period with P.S. Gazpacho.
Thus, she knew what she had to aim for and that was the 36.764 seconds earlier posted by Charlebois with Buddy Brown up.
"I didn't see Buddy ride, but everybody said he was really fast," Rudd said. "I knew I had to go for it. I took the third jump very fast and after that, I knew there was no turning back. The only problem was that the turns were really slippery. But he's like a cat, very quick on his feet."
Her steed's performance left the slightly-built but sinewy Rudd in a post-race glow.
"You get yourself so hyped up and so excited and then to get a ride like that . . . " she said. "I don't know how it could have been much better."
Charlebois and Brown were second and Land of Kings with Margie Goldstein aboard was third. The top-five was rounded out by Mont Cenis and rider Patty Stovel and Zoef ridden by Carrie Ellington. The first 12 places paid.
It was a distinguished field that included former champion David J. Raposa (1991), a member of the United States Equestrian Team and the winner of numerous events; Brown, once the youngest member of the USET; and Goldstein, who had made Grand Prix history earlier this month when she rode seven horses to the first five places in the Rolex Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tenn.
Many considered this the finest cast of contestants ever in Roanoke.
"That's why I'm really excited," Rudd said. "It was really tough and I won it fair and square."
Another cause for excitement, aside from the fact that this is her first Grand Prix title since the one here in 1990, was that she was never allowed to defend that crown. The following year, she was suspended by the American Grand Prix Association for the illegal dispensing of drugs to her horse.
"I hated that year," she said of the lost campaign. "Every minute of it. I was doing the big show at Devon [Pa.] with a young, excitable horse. I gave him a teeny-weeny little bit of tranquilizer. I didn't think it would be detected, but it was. There was a lot of pressure on me from the owner to show the horse and also because I believed in the horse.
"I did it for the owner and the horse, certainly not the for the honor or the glory. But never again."
Rudd assured well-wishers that she would return to Roanoke next year. As\ for her prospects then, she's proven one should never say never again.
GRAND PRIX OF ROANOKE\ AT SALEM CIVIC CENTER
1, Horse: P.S. Gazpacho; owner Mr. and Mrs. Paul Gansky; rider Terry Rudd. 2, Charlebois; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Valiere; Buddy Brown. 3, Land of Kings; Rainbow Jumpers; Margie Goldstein. 4, Mont Cenis; Mr. and Mrs. Ken Stovel; Patty Stovel. 5, Zoef; Colt Enterprises; Carrie Ellington; 6, Alf; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Gansky; Terry Rudd. 7, Top Flight; Baron Farms and David J. Raposa; David J. Raposa. 8, La Costa; Robert Pergament and Max Faninger; Margie Goldstein. 9, Pilot Point; Vicky Miller; Vicky Miller; 10, Oxo; Ri-Arm Farm; Peter Leone. 11, Different Drummer; Marilla Van Buren; Buddy Brown. 12, Thrilling; Todd Minikus and Michelle Masso; Todd Minikus.
by CNB