ERIN, ON – 'Knock Out 3E' and Hugh Graham have been named the National Champions in the 7/8 year old phase of the Young Horse Series National Championships held at Angelstone Tournaments last week. Twenty four horses competed over three days of heated competition and a $4500 check presented by Lothlorien against the top up-and-coming horse in the country.

'Knock Out 3E' is owned by King Ridge Stables and has been developed through the ranks of Graham's young horse program. 'Knock Out 3E', a seven year-old gelding, is by 'James Town' out of the mare 'Great Escape'; who was by 'Class Action' and out of 'Black Diamond'.

Graham was thrilled with his horse that he's guided throughout his career. "We broke him as a baby and we've shown him all the way up to the level he's at now. He's been so successful this year, winning a bunch of classes in the series along the way. I really think he's quite special"

King Ridge Stables has an extensive young horse program that has really benefited from having a platform to train the younger horses in the show ring. He said about the series, "I think the Lothlorien Young Horse Series is what we really need in order to effectively develop our young horses. It gives people a reason to want to own young horses; it's a great thing that's happened. I'm looking forward to coming back next year to participate in the series again."

Kristen Coe rode her mount 'Zues', owned by Ilan Ferder, to a very close second place finish. Beth Underhill was aboard Mackenzie Clark's beautiful mount 'Kinsale' and finished third. Fourth place went to Quebec's Anne Sophie Milette aboard her gelding 'Braque de Villa D'Arto'. Ireland's Andrew Bourns rode 'Ballyquirk Tip Top' to a fifth place finish overall, and Karina Aziz rode Iron Horse Farm's 'Fleur Rooster van Betz' and finished sixth.

Congratulations to Hugh Graham and his mount 'Knock Out 3E' on their Lothlorien Young Horse Series National Finals Championship. Angelstone Tournaments is looking forward to further promoting young horse development during the venue's future competitions in 2014 and would like to acknowledge the generous support of Lothlorien, Dutch Masters and King Ridge Stables for their commitment to furthering the development of Canada's next generation of grand prix competitors.

Darrin Dlin almost made it a complete sweep, winning two (of the four) age groups in the Lothlorien Young Horse Development Series Finals.

Dlin piloted Susan Grange's talented five year-old mare, 'Tienna' to the win on Sunday afternoon in the Angelstone Stadium. 'Tienna' is sired by 'For Pleasure' out of the mare 'Ariana'; who was by 'Polydux'. 'Tienna' and Dlin could not have performed better, delivering four clear rounds and winning the class overall. Dlin raved about the young mare saying, "Tienna is a very competitive horse, she's very careful and very fast. She wants to jump clear, she loves to be a winner!"

Second in the five-year-old section of the National Championship Young Horse Finals went to Stephanie Dubois and 'Ewsz Jura', a five year old mare, sired by 'Daimler D'Adriers', out of the mare 'Dankeschun' who was sired by Damian. Third went to Hugh Graham and gelding 'Diamond Mine', who is sired by 'Double Diamond', and out of the mare 'Abigail' who was by 'Accord II'.

Dlin's hot streak continued with a win in the highly competitive six year-old grouping of the Lothlorien Young Horse Series aboard 'Dillinger', a stallion also owned by Susan Grange. Dillinger was sired by 'Contender', out of the mare 'Capitala' who was by 'Capitol'. Dlin just began riding 'Dillinger' at the beginning of the season. "He is extremely brave, super scopey and always careful. He's really the whole package."

Second went to Melissandre Lincourt and her gelding 'Cees', who was sired by 'Carolus II' and out of the mare 'J. Unellie 14', who was sired by 'Ladalco'.  Third went to Jaclyn Duff and her gelding 'Caesar Z', sired by 'Chopin' and out of the mare 'Pauletta' who was by 'Pilot'.

Will Dow and his mount 'Graf Gunnar' jumped impeccably all week to take home the Young Horse Finals National Championship in the four year-old age category. 'Graf Gunnar' is owned by Crailin Stables and has been shown by Dow consistently this season.

The Lothlorien Young Horse Series was created to encourage owners to purchase and develop younger talent, and according to Dlin, owner Susan Grange does that and more. "Sue does a wonderful job about bringing the young horses along. She's good about giving them mileage; as well as time in between competitions to let them grow up. She is very careful about taking care of their bodies and making sure they are happy. Sue has developed an absolutely wonderful team that takes care of them; without which all of this success just wouldn't be possible."

Darrin Dlin's specialty this season has been in nurturing young talent in the ring, achieving success while teaching practical lessons to his horses. Dlin really drove home the necessity for horse shows to have classes like this and wanted to thank Angelstone for the venue's commitment to the younger talent. "I really want to thank Angelstone for doing such a wonderful job hosting the Finals and making it such a wonderful event. These types of classes are vital to our horses reaching the highest levels."

Angelstone looks forward to hosting the Young Horse Series next year and would like to thank Lothlorien, Dutch Masters and King Ridge Stables for their generous sponsorship of the program. Congratulations to this season's competitors and to the Finals champions, Darrin Dlin and Will Dow.