Riding Hicktead, Lamaze won the third, and final, leg of the Rolex Grand Prix in a four horse jump-off. In 2nd place was Pius Schwizer (SUI) riding Carlina, 3rd place Sergio Alvarez Moya (ESP) riding Action-Breaker and 4th Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER) riding Shutterfly.
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Traverse City, MI – July 17, 2010 – Jumper action continued in the Grand Prix Ring at Flintfields Horse Park this afternoon as the Low and High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper divisions completed their first week of competition at Horse Shows by the Bay Series I. Running through August 1, Horse Shows by the Bay is the Midwest’s most distinguished equestrian festival, held in the heart of beautiful Traverse City, MI. The $5,000 Low Junior/AO Jumper Classic began this afternoon’s competition with a win for Erin Haas and All of a Sudden. The $10,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame (SJHOF) High Junior/AO Jumper Prix followed with a victory for Laura Pfeiffer and Anberlin.
Renowned course designer Pierre Jolicoeur set the tracks for today’s classes in the Grand Prix Ring. The $10,000 SJHOF Junior/AO Jumper Prix was held thanks to the generous sponsorship of GGT Footing and Footing First with a class of talented entries. Six made it to the jump-off at the end of the first round and it was the last to go that won top prize. Col De Roussett and Miranda Travers-Cavill went first in the jump-off and jumped clear in 36.356 seconds to eventually earn second place honors. Denise Wilson and Corsavita finished in third with four faults in 35.971 seconds. Laura Pfeiffer and Anberlin were the final pair to return and jumped clear in the fastest time of 34.856 seconds for the win.
Calgary, AB – July 16, 2010 – Recently, top trainer Diane Carney traveled with Richard Rinehart and riders of Telluride Farm to compete at the Spruce Meadows Tournament. The riders competed during the “Canada One” week, which began July 1 and ran through July 4, 2010, and the “North American” week, held July 7-11, 2010. Rinehart, Caitie Hope, Michael Burnett, Virginia Bartholomay, and Morgan Dvorkin all scored top ribbons and had the opportunity to ride in the Spruce Meadows victory gallops.
Rinehart earned a victory during “Canada One” with Iron in the 1.20m Open Jumper Welcome Class. He also showed Total Touch, owned by Kathleen Hope to a second and fourth place finish in the 1.20m Open Jumper classes. “Richard is a brilliant rider and might not have taken the big step to compete at Spruce Meadows without this opportunity,” noted Carney. “If you can ride and understand horsemanship then you will leave Spruce Meadows encouraged and fulfilled.” Rinehart was the winner of the Maxine Beard Award in 2001.
Continue reading Telluride Farm Awarded Top Prizes at Spruce Meadows “North American” & “Canada One”
Blainville, QC – July 16, 2010 – Two top equestrians, Lauren Hunkin and Christine McCrea, battled for the top award at Friday night’s FEI Open Welcome Class during the Classique Internationale de Blainville (Jumping Blainville). Hunkin and Larry 0146’s ambition and speed would earn them the winning rosette after flying through the jump-off in 31.96 seconds. McCrea aboard Baloubet Junior Z’s time would hold up for the second place position. This evening’s class took place in the Grand Prix Ring at the Equestrian Park of Blainville and was watched by a large crowd of enthusiastic onlookers.
Today’s challenging first round track and jump-off course were designed by Linda Allen. The opening round featured a liverpool, a triple bar and three double combinations. Many riders accrued faults at the final oxer-vertical double combination which came just a few strides after the wide spread of the triple bar. One of the most difficult aspects of the first round proved to be the time allowed, with only five riders breaking the beam without time faults.
15 July 2010 – The horses for the equestrian events of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) arrived safely in Singapore at 11.50 local time this morning. After an eight-hour flight from Brisbane, Australia all the horses are reported to be in good health and have now been transported to their new home, the YOG Equestrian venue at the Singapore Turf Club Riding Centre.
The horses’ journey started from their training centre at Glen Haven Park, two hours north of Brisbane. Transportation of the YOG horses was arranged by International Race Horse Transport and loading of the horses onto the plane took almost two hours. The horses were accompanied on the flight by the YOG Head Veterinarian, Dr Roshni Selvam, three grooms and two riders from Glen Haven Park. Two additional grooms and two more riders from Glen Haven Park arrived on a separate flight.
Post Arrival Quarantine for the horses starts tomorrow at 9.00 and continues until 12.00 noon on 30 July. During the quarantine period the horses will still be trained and looked after by their Glen Haven Park riders and grooms. The Glen Haven Park grooms, together with local grooms, will continue to look after the horses throughout the Games.
Continue reading Horses for Youth Olympic Games Arrive in Singapore
SWEDES SPRING A SURPRISE IN FALSTERBO
Falsterbo (SWE), 9 July 2010 – On an afternoon of dramatically fluctuating fortunes, the host nation of Sweden sprung a big surprise as they swept to victory in the fifth leg of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup on their home ground at Falsterbo today. It was against all the odds, because they had previously picked up only two points in the series and seemed to be staring relegation in the face at the end of the season. But in typically stubborn style they didn’t let the pressure overwhelm them, and three first-round clears ensured they would always be in contention while it was their Olympic silver medallist, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, who clinched it for them in the end.
The Netherlands finished a strong second, also shaking off some distressingly poor results in previous legs of this super-tough Meydan FEI season, while Spain and France divided third, Ireland and the USA shared fifth place and Great Britain had to settle for seventh this time out. Switzerland finished eighth after only just managing to squeeze into the second round and, in another real turn-up for the books, the German team were sidelined at the end of round one along with the unfortunate Polish side that suffered elimination.
Continue reading Meydan FEI Nations Cup 2010 – Competition Report Round 5, Falsterbo
9 July 2010 – Michael Morrissey (USA) has been suspended for three months and issued a yellow card with retroactive disqualification for excessive use of the whip in class 101 at the Wellington CSI 2* held on 27 February 2010. Mr Morrissey has also been subjected to a fine of CHF 2,000. The suspension from FEI competition will run from 5 May to 4 August, concurrent with the three-month suspension imposed on Mr Morrissey by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF).
“I apologise unreservedly for this incident,” Mr Morrissey said. “I overreacted when the horse stopped and that is unforgiveable. Horse welfare has to take precedence over competitive interests and I know that I was in breach of that basic principle.”
An investigation into the role of the Ground Jury in this incident showed that Mr Morrissey should have been disqualified at the time. Letters of reprimand have been sent to all members of the Ground Jury.
The full text of the decision is available here: MORRISSEY.
Media Contact:
Grania Willis
FEI Director Press Relations
Tel: +41 787 506 142
Email: grania.willis@fei.org
8 July 2010 – Olympic Jumping champion Eric Lamaze (CAN) has returned to the number one spot in the Rolex Rankings.
The Canadian, who took individual gold and team silver at the Beijing 2008 Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong, was ranked second in the world in February and March and was third in the April and May rankings. He is now back at the top of the rankings for the first time since February 2009.
Pius Schwizer (SUI), who has been world number one in the Rolex Rankings for the past five months, has now dropped down to second, with reigning European champion Kevin Staut (FRA) moving up one place to third. Rolex FEI World Cup champion Marcus Ehning (GER), who was in second in the May rankings, is now in fourth.
The updated Rolex Rankings, which were published today by the FEI, are available here.
Media Contact:
Grania Willis
FEI Director Press Relations
Tel: +41 787 506 142
Email: grania.willis@fei.org
FRENCH STILL IN FRONT AS SERIES ARRIVES IN FALSTERBO
Falsterbo (SWE), 6 July 2010 – The defending champions from France still hold the whip hand as the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup series moves to Falsterbo in Sweden this Friday. Full of flair and confidence they blazed a trail through the first-half of the season with a spectacular hat-trick of wins, and they hold an eight-point lead over Great Britain in second place going into the last four rounds of the eight-leg series.
After a superb victory from the all-girl team in Rotterdam three weeks ago the USA has improved to third with just 3.5 points separating them from the British, while Germany lies fourth, just 0.5 points further adrift. The Spanish team, newcomers to this top level of team jumping, have shown themselves more than equal to the task and in fifth place hold a single-point advantage over the Irish in sixth. But neither of these nations can afford to rest on their laurels.
Continue reading Meydan FEI Nations Cup 2010 – Falsterbo Preview
July 5, 2010 – The North American Riders Group believes to advance the sport of show jumping, all decisions related to its future must put the sport itself above all else. This is an example of that.
McLain, the USEF and the FEI could have continued a prolonged legal battle, but the additional gains on either side would have been for personal gain or pride. Instead, a positive resolution has been forged that publicly recognizes the decision was INCORRECT and, importantly, has resulted in a revised protocol for hypersensitivity.
Details of the revised protocol will be issued before the Aachen CHIO, but from what we understand already they will require more checks and balances which should eliminate any misuse of the protocol either by mistake or abuse of power.
Everyone in show jumping should benefit from this resolution.
We applaud those involved for this resolution while we still recognize that McLain can’t get back the World Cup he lost in Geneva!
For more information, please visit www.narg.org.