Wellington, Florida – September 29, 2003 -- The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Southern Florida (“MAW”) will be this year’s beneficiary of The Fourth Annual Sidelines Equestrian Triathlon® (the “Triathlon”). The Triathlon will be held on Saturday, December 27, 2003, beginning at 1 pm (although the gates will open at noon), at The Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington.

What is an equestrian triathlon? Teams of three are established: one rider is a specialist in jumping, one in the precision flatwork of dressage, the other in polo. Each team member brings the horse of his/her discipline, except the polo player will bring six polo ponies as each teammate will ride two for a two-chukkar game. Each rider then competes in the two other disciplines not his/her own. So, the dressage rider will jump a course and play polo; the jumper rider will ride a dressage test to music (musical freestyle) and play polo; and the polo player will jump a course, ride a dressage test and play polo (to help out his team and keep the ball moving, but cannot score goals). As in past years, top riders from each discipline will donate their time, as well as that of their favorite horse or polo ponies, to win the competition, have fun and raise money for the charitable beneficiary.

MAW grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions who live in Southern Florida. Making an ill child’s dream come true not only enriches his or her life with hope, strength and joy but also positively empowers the lives of the child’s family and friends. MAW, since its founding in 1983, granted their 4,000th wish this past February 2003. MAW maintains offices in Ft. Lauderdale and in Bonita Springs.

Two of the presenting sponsors of the Triathlon are Sidelines Magazine and The Village Animal Clinic. Sidelines is a bi-weekly magazine which regularly covers the sporting and social aspects of the equestrian disciplines of hunters/jumpers, dressage and polo, with occasional coverage of three-day eventing and foxhunting. Sidelines, owned by polo-playing Wellington resident and Triathlon creator Samantha Charles, is published in Wellington and distributed nationally.

The Village Animal Clinic, a small animal veterinary facility, is located at 9044 Alternate A1A in North Palm Beach and is accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association. Jennifer Prior, DVM, one of the veterinarians at the Clinic, has been in practice for five years. Dr. Prior has also been an MAW “Wish Maker” for the last few years.

General admission tickets are $10. Those wishing to watch while lunching in The VIP Tent will be charged $150/person with non-reserved seating. Reserved seating is available at $750 for a table of six.

For ticket/table information, please call (561) 793-6229 or email at sidelinestriathlon@earthlink.net. Master Card, Visa and American Express cards are welcomed. For all other information, please contact Phelps Wilkes & Associates, Inc. at (561) 753-3389 or at info@phelpswilkes.com.

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