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1. Gina Miles, McKinlaigh - 54.0 (DCSJ) (Gina and McKinlaigh are pictured at the right jumping the Canada Goose in the last water at The Fork, this spring.)
2. Tiana Coudray, King Street - 67.6 (4 jumping, 0 time SJ)
3. Hawley Bennett, Livingstone - 68.3 (8 jumping, 0 time SJ)
4. Sandra Donnelly, Buenos Aires - 77.8 (4 jumping, 0 time SJ)
5. Leigh Mesher, My Beau - 103.9 (20 jumping, 0 time SJ)
6. Jennifer Wooten, The Good Witch - 106.1 (12 jumping, 0 time SJ)
(16 competitors)

CIC**:

1. Matthew Brown, Jasmine - 45.9 (8 jumping, 0 time SJ)
2. Alexis Bramley, Hampton - 58.2 (DCSJ)
3. Amy Tryon, Layland - 64.9 (4 jumping, 0 time SJ)
4. Kiiara Troth, Oxley's Inpulse 72.3 (12 jumping, 0 time SJ)
5. Hawley Bennett, Gin & Juice - 74.3 (8 jumping, 0 time SJ)
6. Gina Miles, Philipa 75.5 (4 jumping, 0 time SJ)

Amy Tryon, selected to the Squad for the WEG, flew home from England (after competing Poggio II and Le Samurai at Barbury Castle) to ride Leyland at Rebecca Farm. Amy expects to return to England to join the rest of the Squad this week.

Editor's Note: Rebecca Farm featured Live Audio Coverage of all three days of the competition on their web site. Sadly, my schedule allowed me to listen to Nigel Casserly's announcements only on Sunday for Show Jumping. It was fun to have up to date results in "real time". I expect that the Cross Country coverage was even more interesting. Try it, you'll like it! Well done Rebecca Farm! Cora C. Cushny

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FEI Eventing World Cup Update: Kalispell (USA)

Press Release 8
25 July 2006

McKinlaigh Finishes Miles Ahead

By Kate Green

Gina Miles (USA) and her veteran four-star campaigner McKinlaigh led from the start to win the fourth and final American leg of the 2005-06 FEI World Cup series, at Kalispell, Montana, by a clear 6.3 penalty margin.

Miles, 32, performed the only clear stadium round to hold her lead, having added 13.2 cross-country time penalties to her dressage score of 40.8.

Miles, who finished third in the 2003 FEI Eventing World Cup final at Pau (FRA), has now risen 39 places to sixth in the current FEI Eventing World Cup standings, with 100 points to add to the 30 she earned for fourth place at Norwood (USA) earlier this year.

Runners-up Tiana Coudray (USA) riding King Street swapped places in the final phase at Kalispell with Hawley Bennett (CAN), eventually third on her Athens Olympic horse Livingstone. (Hawley and Livingstone are pictured at the left jumping into the Sunken Road at the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, in 2005.) The two finished a mere penalty apart, with Coudray having just the one rail down to finish on 67.3 penalties, ahead of Bennett (68.3).

A field of 16 started the competition at Rebecca Farm, with 14 completing. There were seven clear cross-country rounds; but, no one achieved the optimum cross-country time of 5min 14sec.

Sandra Donnelly (CAN) and Buenos Aires were fourth (77.8), ahead of Leigh Mesher (USA) and My Beau (103.9), who were fifth despite a cross-country stop and 20 stadium penalties.

Derek di Grazia (USA), who is shortlisted to design the course for the 2012 London Olympics, was seventh on Kildare Cavalier.

There are only three more qualifiers left in this the fourth FEI World Cup series before the final, at Malmo (SWE) (21-24 September), and the action now moves to Schenefeld (GER) this weekend (28-30 July).

Nearly 200 riders have taken part in the series, with the qualifiers at Moscow (RUS) and Martinvast (FRA) yet to come.

Phillip Dutton (AUS) still leads the FEI Eventing World Cup rankings on 170 points from Karin Donckers (BEL) on 165 and the reigning champion Clayton Fredericks (AUS) on 152. Two Britons slot in above Gina Miles, Rodney Powell on 142 and Matthew Wright on 140.

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The FEI Eventing World Cup is the sport's only linked series. The 2006 season consists of 18 qualifiers held in ten countries worldwide. It will culminate in a Final to be held in Malmö (SWE) from 21 to 24 September. The FEI Eventing World Cup is organised at the highest level of the sport using the format without steeple chase. The series is designed in manner to
encourage the participation of the world's best riders and horses and thus promote such emblematic values of Eventing, as the constant quest for harmony between physical skills and mental balance, contact with nature, precision, stamina, agility and insightful training. The FEI Eventing World Cup is a showcase of a sport resolutely turned to the future.

Malina Gueorguiev
Communications Department

Fédération Equestre Internationale
Avenue Mon-Repos 24
1005 Lausanne
Switzerland

t + 41 21 310 47 54
f + 41 21 310 47 60

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Busy Weekend for the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series

Two of the country’s premier events, The Event at Rebecca Farm and the Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials, ran Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series divisions the weekend of July 21-23, giving eventers from both coasts the chance to test their mettle against some of the top horses and riders in the nation.

The Event at Rebecca Farm

Approximately 450 horse-and-rider combinations, from novice level through three-star, came from as far as Idaho and California and Arizona to The Event at Rebecca Farm, in Kalispell, Montana, braving heat over 100 degrees on the weekend. Despite the heat, everyone at the Farm enjoyed the hospitality of the Broussard family and their crew of volunteers, who made competitors, spectators, officials, and sponsors alike feel welcome throughout the weekend. The event ran like clockwork, and there’s no doubt that the hospitality and organization, along with the gorgeous and challenging cross-country courses designed by Mark Phillips, are the reasons that the Event took 500 entries (approximately 450 ran after the usual last minute withdrawals) and had to turn away another 100.

The CIC***-W and CIC** served as the Advanced and Intermediate divisions for the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series. Gina Miles and McKinlaigh looked impressive in all three phases of the CIC***-W, putting in a wire-to-wire victory for a final score of 54. This longtime partnership, who represented the U.S. in the 2002 World Equestrian Games and the 2003 FEI World Cup Finals, set the bar high in Friday’s dressage with a 40.8 score, more than seven points ahead of their nearest competition, Leigh Mesher and My Beau with 47.9.

Miles, who hails from Creston, California, and McKinlaigh, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Miles and Thom Schulz, jumped clean on Saturday, and even their 13.2 time penalties (no pair finished under the optimum time) had little effect on the standings—they went into show jumping with a 6.3-penalty lead ahead of Canadian Hawley Bennett and her 16-year-old Thoroughbred Livingstone. Just 3.6 time penalties on course allowed Young Rider Tiana Coudray and King Street to hold their third place position on a score of 63.7. Coudray was reserve champion of last year’s Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series. (Gina Miles and McKinlaigh (right), winners of the CIC***-W at The Event at Rebecca Farm, pose with runners-up, Tiana Coudray and King Street. Photo Credit: Amy J. Daum.)

On Sunday, rails were dropping all over the show jumping courses, and the CIC***-W was no different. Bennett and Livingstone had one of the better performances, dropping just two rails. Coudray and King Street did them one better, dropping just one rail to move up for a guaranteed second place.

But it was Miles and McKinlaigh who put in the round of the day—the only double clear—securing them the win and a slew of prizes and prize money, including their share of the CIC***-W $30,000 prize money. For their Gold Cup Series win they received $500, a seven-dose pack of Adequan, a Mountain Horse jacket with Gold Cup logo, a front and hind pair of Nunn Finer American Style brushing boots, and the choice of either a Cross-Country Sereno Top Ride pad with ultra-suede, or the Cross-Country Ortho Top Ride saddle pad with advanced memory foam from Ogilvy Horse. In addition, McKinlaigh received a special cooler and $250 as the highest placing horse of Irish Draught descent.

Coudray, of Ojai, California, and King Street, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Jatiel, Inc., took home a front and hind pair of Nunn Finer brushing boots, and a saddle pad from Ogilvy Horse. Coudray also received the Guinness Award, named in memory of Sarah Broussard Kelly’s beloved mount, for her finish as the highest placing Young Rider.

CIC**

Matthew Brown and Jasmine also put in a wire-to-wire win, finishing the CIC** on a score of 53.9. Brown and Jasmine, a 12-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred mare owned by Cecily Clark and Jodie Potts, took a commanding lead from the start, earning a score of 45.9 in dressage, 7.9 points ahead of Kelly Prather and Ballinakill Glory, who the next day were eliminated on cross-country.

Brown and Jasmine made easy work of the cross-country course, one of just four pairs to finish with no jump or time penalties, extending their lead to 12.3 points. Alexis Bramley and Hampton accrued just 4.4 time penalties, moving up from third to second, for a two-day score of 58.2.

Bramley and Hampton kept the pressure on, putting in the only double clear show jumping round of the division. Brown had three rails in hand, and would need two of those, finishing the event on a score of 53.9. He and Jasmine took home their share of the CIC** $5,000 in prize money, as well as the same list of Gold Cup prizes and prize money as in the CIC***-W. Brown also earned the Phyllis Freeman Greene Good Seat Award.

Amy Tryon and Leyland, a six-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by Elisabeth Nicholson, dropped just one rail, which was enough to move them up one spot into third place after Kiira Troth and Oxley’s Impulse dropped three rails for a fourth place finish. (Amy and Leyland are pictured at the left jumping a Canada Goose in the water at The Fork last spring.)

The 2006 Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series would not be possible without an impressive list of sponsors: Title, Adequan; Presenting: Amerigo, Nunn Finer, and Nutrena; Contributing: Cover-All Building Systems, UlcerGard, Wellpride and Premier Equestrian; and patron sponsor, Mountain Horse and Ogilvy Horse.

This December at the USEA Annual Meeting and Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, a grand prize Gold Cup trophy and Amerigo saddle will be awarded to the rider from each division with the most points at the end of the year. In addition, the Gold Cup champion at the advanced level receives a check from the USEA for $6,000, and the intermediate champion receives a check for $4,000. Both winners will also receive an additional supply of Adequan. The second placed rider at Advanced wins a $3,500 Bit of Britain gift certificate, and their Intermediate counterpart wins a $2,500 gift certificate.

For more information on the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series, visit the Gold Cup page on the USEA website. For more information on The Event at Rebecca Farm, including complete results, visit www.eventatrfarm.com. For more information on the Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials, visit www.stuarthorsetrials.org.