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McLain
Ward Wins $50,000 Rolex/USET Show Jumping Championship
At Bayer USET Festival of Champions Presented by State
Line Tack
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Gladstone,
NJ—June 26, 2002—McLain Ward topped a field of 15 starters
to win the $50,000 Rolex/USET Show Jumping Championship, part
of the Fleet Show Jumping Division at the Bayer/USET Festival
of Champions Presented by State Line Tack, held at the United
States Equestrian Team (USET) Olympic Training Center in Gladstone,
NJ.
Out of the starting field, seven horse-and-rider combinations
went clean in the first round to qualify for the jump-off. Those
qualifying for the jump-off included Candice King of Wellington,
FL and Jimmy Torano of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, both of whom qualified
on two mounts, Marylisa Leffler of Brookeville, MD, McLain Ward
of Brewster, NY, and Margie Engle of Wellington, FL. Going first
on Penlyn Farm’s Espadon, Candice King set the standard for
the jump-off by riding fault- free in a time of 44.27 seconds.
King and Espadon held the lead through the next two rides, Torano
on Sir Ruly, Inc’s Aguila, and Leffler on Bruce Chovnick
LLS’s Graf Rossini. King then beat her own first performance
with her second ride aboard Caliskan, owned by Elizabeth Johnson,
in a time of 42.596 seconds.
The
second to last rider to go, Margie Engle then took over the top
spot by going clear in a time of 41.754 seconds on her 2000 Sydney
Olympic mount, Hidden Creek’s Perin. The class came down
to a battle between Ward and Engle, who have held the top two
spots on the USET Show Jumping Computer Ranking List all year.
Ward, the last rider in the ring, and his mount Viktor, co-owned
by Ward and Harry Gill, were able to shave six tenths of a second
off of Engle’s time to cross through the timers with a clear
round in 41.198 seconds to win the class.
Ward offered Viktor much of the credit for the pair’s successful
weekend at the Bayer/ USET Festival of Champions. “He’s
a great horse to have. You think and he does it. It’s nice
to have a partner like that,” Ward said.
For further information and full results from the Bayer/ USET
Festival of Champions Presented by State Line Tack, please visit
the USET website at www.uset.org.
Highlights
of the Festival will the aired on the Outdoor Life Network on
July 2 at 8:00 pm EDT.
The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization
that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest
possible standard to represent our country in major international
competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
To accomplish this, the USET seeks out and nurtures the development
of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides
the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest
potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908)
234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org
.
