“Elliott
Stone and Freestyle will represent Canada at the 2004 World
Cup Final in Milan, Italy.”
Photo credit – Cealy Tetley |
Show
Jumping Athlete Elliott Stone Heads to 2004 World Cup Final
in Milan
Midland, Ontario – Show jumping athlete Elliott Stone
is set to make his World Cup Final debut when the annual event
is held April 21-25, 2004, in Milan, Italy.
Stone,
21, of Midland, ON, is one of two Canadian representatives
invited to contest the 2004 World Cup Final and will compete
alongside Canadian World Cup League winner, Ainsley Vince
of Milton, ON. Stone will ride Freestyle, a 10-year-old Belgian
Warmblood mare owned by his father, Michael Stone.
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“My
number one goal is to get some good experience,” says Stone
who began his competitive career at the age of seven. “My horse
feels really, really ready. She is fitter and jumping better than
she ever has. I would be very happy to be among the top twenty riders
who make it into the final round on Sunday.”
An
appearance in Milan will not be the only European experience for
this short listed member of the Canadian Show Jumping Team. Stone
has accepted a job with Jurg Notz and began working in early April
at his Stall Notz training facility in Bern, Switzerland, located
mid-way between Geneva and Zurich. Approximately 70 show jumping
and dressage horses are currently in training at Stall Notz while
a breeding program continues to produce horses for the future.
“My
plan is to stay at least six months,” notes Stone who will
be responsible for taking the top horses to competitions. “I
am meeting a lot of the big professionals in Europe and really want
to watch the international scene up close. I also wanted to make
some good connections for buying horses, which I have already done,
finding high quality horses at reasonable prices. I would like to
return to North America with a big string of horses for the winter
circuit in Palm Beach, Florida, or Indio, California.”
A
successful 2003 season saw Stone compete in his first World Cup
Qualifying event in June, the $60,000 National Bank World Cup Qualifier
in Bromont, QC, where he advanced to the jump-off with both Freestyle
and Ancho de Pomme and placed fourth and eighth respectively. In
August, he was a member of the Gold Medal Team at the 2003 North
American Young Riders’ Championship before representing Canada
at the Washington International Horse Show in October where he enjoyed
a fourth place finish in the $20,000 Open Jumper Hit and Hurry riding
Freestyle and also placed fourth in the $25,000 International Puissance
after clearing a height of 6’3” with Ancho de Pomme, a
nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding.
Stone
is proudly supported by Stoneleigh Motors, a General Motors dealership
located in Midland, ON.
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