Lexington, KY – August 17, 2025 – The $40,000 Bluegrass Festival Grand Prix, presented by Sterling Equestrian and Forest Hill, was the marquee show jumping event in the Rolex Stadium on Sunday morning at the Kentucky Horse Park. Besting a seven-horse jump-off with speed and precision, took home the winning title. Loic Cannaert Vivianne Blue PS were just off the pace to capture second place, while Sayre Happy and P-Flor-V.H. rounded out the top three.
“She felt great today,” noted Billington after his win.”The course looked great this morning and in the first round she jumped amazingly. She was really on it and she was jumping really well. I knew in the jump off she’d have to be really fast.”
James Billington and Lemonade WB
The course built by Ken Krome and Meghan Rawlins for Sunday’s class featured 13-obstacles that spanned the entirety of the stadium. Questions in the first round included a triple bar, a vertical-oxer double combination, an oxer-vertical-vertical triple combination and a final steady line on the far side of the ring. Seven horses advanced to the tiebreaker where six produced a second clear effort, making speed the name of the game.
Sayre Happy & P-Flor-V.H.
Happy was one of the first to return with P-Flor-V.H, and she set the early pace with a fast gallop while leaving all the rails intact to cross the finish line in 39.860 seconds. Just a few rounds later, Billington entered the ring ready to win, using Lemonade WB’s quick pace to his advantage and taking a risk on the turn back to the double combination. The risk was worth the reward as they broke the beam in a clear 39.122 to take over the top spot. Cannaert was the only other rider to challenge Billington’s time with Vivianne Blue PS. They came close and were able to slip ahead of Happy, but their fault-free time of 39.733 seconds would move into second place in the rankings as Billington returned to accept the winning honors.
“I didn’t see Sayre go, but I knew there were also fast ones after me, so I just thought I’ll just try and do what I can do,” explained Billington. “Around to the double I went really fast and I think my distance was almost nonexistent, but she was amazing. She tried so hard and she’s naturally quick, so I just kept moving and it worked.”
Lemonade WB is a 9-year-old KWPN mare owned by Samantha Mackenzie that Billington has been riding for over two years. “She’s always been special,” he said. “It took a bit of time because she’s very careful, but she’s always been a fighter and she’s really grown into the grand prixs now. She just likes to go forward. She’s a bit mareish, she likes to do it in her own way and if I can just stay out of her way, then she’d probably be better off doing it by herself.”
Billington was happy to end the week on a winning note at the Kentucky Horse Shows concluding, “It is just such a great show. You come into the stadium and it has that big show feeling. These summer shows give horses the experience for when it’s a bigger show. It’s amazing to be here.”
Competition during the Bluegrass Festival has come to a close, but hunter/jumper action will continue next week at the Kentucky Horse Park during the KHJA Horse Show. Feature events will include the $30,000 KHJA Grand Prix, $15,000 KHJA Welcome Stake and $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby. For more information about the Kentucky Horse Shows please visit www.KentuckyHorseShows.com.