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Surefire Farm ran their first Open Intermediate Sections last weekend. O/I Section "A" was won, appropriately enough, by the mistress of Sure Fire Farm, Jan Byyny Thompson riding Task Force. Task Force had the second fastest time of the Section Cross Country (2.8 time faults) and Show Jumped double clear. This pair finished sixth at the Rolex-Kentucky CCI**** this spring and are headed to the World Cup Final in Malmo, Sweden, in August. Their score of 36.80 was 13.70 faults better than second place finishers Rebecca Polan and Close the Deal whose final score was 50.50. There were 18 competitors in the Section. (Jan and Task Force are pictured at the left jumping the fence after the first water at Rolex-Kentucky this spring.)

Bruce Davidson, of Unionville, PA, won Section "B" with the grey mare Jam on a score of 36.10. Emily Beshear and Three Wishes (44.70) placed second. There were 16 competitors in Section "B". Bruce's time Cross Country - 3.6 time faults - was the fastest of the Section, and Jam jumped double clear in the Show Jumping.

Stuart Black won O/I Section "C" with Fleeceworks Pacific Storm. Their score was 34.20. Canada's Mike Winter placed second riding Wonderful Will. Stuart placed second in the Dressage, had the fourth fastest time Cross Country, and, like the winners of the other two Sections, Show Jumped double clear. 15 riders competed in Section "C" for a total of 49 Intermediate horses at Surefire.

Other Results:

Open Preliminary Section "A":
1. Sonya Crampton (Canada), Gorgeous George - 31.50

Open Preliminary, Section "B":
1. David O'Brien, Money Spider - 32.00

Open Preliminary, Young Rider:
1. Stephanie Boyar, Scrimshaw - 30.50

For complete results please see: www.surefireeventing.com

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Contact: Jennifer Ward
tel: (613) 569-2423
www.startinggate.ca

July 29, 2005
For Immediate Release

Surefire Win for Stuart Black at Surefire Horse Trials

Purcellville, Virginia – It was a surefire win for American eventing athlete Stuart Black as he rode Fleeceworks Pacific Storm to victory at the Surefire Horse Trials II in Purcellville, Virginia.

In the one-day event held Sunday, July 24, Black opened the dressage phase with an impressive score of 29.50 penalty points to place second in the Open Intermediate, Division C, standings. With the show jumping held next in the order of the three-phase test, Black guided Fleeceworks Pacific Storm to a clear round, despite being the first rider on course, to move into the lead. In the final cross-country phase where Black was again the pathfinder, he incurred just five time penalties to claim the win with a final score of 34.50 penalty points to best second-placed finisher, Canadian Olympian Mike Winter.

“It was his first time out this season, and he just went back into the dressage ring and was very confident and quiet,” said Black of his big nine-year-old Canadian-bred gelding. “The show jumping was hard going with a big course, but I just needed to ride forward to my fences and he jumped super. The cross-country course was deceptive as it was quite easy in parts but then there were two big fences that really sorted everyone out. At those two tests, he paid attention, was very rideable, and jumped fantastic. The ground was quite hard, so I took it a little bit easier than I normally would have and yet I still had one of the fastest times of the day.” (Stuart and Fleeceworks Pacific Storm are pictured at the right above jumping the fence at the top of the Bank at the Maui Jim Horse Trials in 2004.)

Black purchased Fleeceworks Pacific Storm, a Westphalian/Thoroughbred-cross by Pacific Sunset, a son of famous show jumping stallion, Polydor, in the fall of 2002 from owner and breeder Barbara Marks after seeing him in a clinic he was conducting in British Columbia. The pair have been partnered together for almost three years now and, in 2004, won the CIC** Red Hills Horse Trials in Florida and the Advanced Division of the Wayne Horse Trials in Illinois. An injury kept Fleeceworks Pacific Storm out of competition until now, but he clearly proved that he has returned to his winning ways with the Surefire Horse Trials victory.

A two-time Canadian Olympian, Black became an American citizen in the fall of 2004 and was selected by the United States Equestrian Federation’s High Performance Committee to participate in its training program. In June, he traveled to Germany to compete in the CCI**** Luhmühlen Three Day Event with another mount, Fleeceworks Starlight, his eight-year-old Holsteiner/Thoroughbred-cross mare. Sired by the well-known show jumping sire, Cavalier, Fleeceworks Starlight was named the ‘Intermediate Horse of the Year’ and the ‘Mare of the Year’ for 2004 by the United States Eventing Association.

“It was my first time being a part of the U.S. system, they funded the trip and gave you a chance to work with the entire team,” noted Black who credits his success at Surefire Horse Trials to a training session with U.S. Eventing Team coach Captain Mark Phillips held one week before his win. “The whole experience was a fact-finding mission to see where Starlight stands for next year, and it was great to know that she could jump clean around a four-star course.”

“I am lucky to have the two horses, they are both of high quality,” continued Black, who is based in Bluemont, VA, where he operates a training and sales business with his wife, Momi, also an international eventing competitor. “Pacific Storm is actually a year older than the mare but he got behind in his training due to the year off. They are both hopefuls for the World Equestrian Games next year in Germany.”

In preparation for the 2006 season, Black plans to compete with Fleeceworks Pacific Storm at the CIC*** Poplar Place Horse Trials held in Georgia in September before aiming for October’s CCI*** Fair Hill International where he finished third last year.

Fleeceworks, designers and manufacturers of high quality sheepskin products for equestrian use, sponsor both Fleeceworks Pacific Storm and Fleeceworks Starlight. For more information, please visit www.fleeceworks.com.

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Surefire I
July 16 and 17, 2005

Surefire Farm, in Purcellville, Virginia, is home to Jan Byyny Thompson. This year Surefire has offered two weekends of competition.

At Surefire I, the highest levels were Open Preliminary.

The "A" section, which had 17 competitors, was won by Bonnie Mosser, of Coatesville, PA, and Happy Valley (28.00), from Bruce Davidson with Criuse Lion (31.00) and Brenda Newgaard on Haydne (34.10). (Bonnie and Happy Valley are pictured at the right, in the Dressage Phase at the Virginia Horse Trials last fall.)

Southern Pines' Michele Lobsinger took the Open Preliminary "B" Section roding Able Sportsfield (28.00). Kim Severson placed second on Choo Choo McGoo (28.50). Courthey Cooper came third with Much More (30.00). (Michele and Able Sportsfield are pictured at the left below at Midsouth at the Kentucky Horse Park last year.)

Bruce Davidson, of Unionville, PA, who had been second in the "A" Section, won the "C" Section riding Queen Bee (33.50) from another North Carolinian David O'Brien and Summer Hill (34.10). Amy Krengel rode Harley D to third place on 35.00.