Driving

The second of two Mandatory Outings for the drivers on the Short List for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games was held Wednesday-Friday at Cedar Lane Farm in Oldwick, NJ. The informal competition format included dressage, a shortened version of the marathon and a challenging cones course. Tucker Johnson, Chester Weber, Jim Fairclough, Josh Rector and David Saunders participated in the Outing which was overseen by US Driving coaches Michael Freund and Peter Tischer with assistance from International Judge Johan Lange.

Jumping

Show Jumping competition resumed in Calgary, Alberta as the Spruce Meadows Champions Welcome Tournament kicked off on Thursday. Beezie Madden and Mademoiselle were second in Thursday's 1.50m Friends of the Meadows Welcome, on Friday Ashlee Bond and GZS Cassira Z won the $31,000 Friends of the Meadows Barrage and the tournament came to a close on Sunday with the $55,000 Friends of the Meadows FEI World Cup Qualifier where Madden and Mademoiselle took home top honors. And Bond and Chivas Z finished a close second. Richard Spooner and Cristallo were fifth.

The $2 million CSIO5* Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament begins on Wednesday. The five day competition will feature the BMO Nations Cup on Saturday and wrap up on Sunday with the $1 million CN International Grand Prix.

For complete information and results please visit www.sprucemeadows.com.

The historic Hampton Classic took place in Bridgehampton, NY over the past week, attracting some of the sport's top horses and riders. In the $15,000 Speed Derby Leslie Howard put in the fastest clear round to win with Jeans Glove Varnel. Peter Leone and Nerval de la Batia took top honors in the $20,000 Nicolock Speed Challenge.On Saturday, Hilary Dobbs and Marengo beat out a field of 32 to capture the Hampton Classic's Fendi Cup in the $30,000 Fendi Open Jumper Challenge. Last year's class winner McLain Ward was second with Pjotter Van De Zonnehoeve, and Jeffery Welles and Zycarla Z were third. Mario Deslauriers and Urico were the fastest double-clear combination to secure the win in the $50,000 Spy Cost Farm Grand Prix Qualifier; Candice King and Toronto were second and Georgina Bloomberg and Metropolitan were third.

Competition wrapped up on Sunday with the $250,000 FTI Grand Prix and FEI World Cup Qualifier, and Ward and his legendary mare Sapphire won for the second consecutive year. This marks Ward's fifth victory in the Hampton Classic Grand Prix (the most wins by any rider) and makes Ward and Sapphire only the third horse/rider combination to win the class in consecutive years. Ward and Twist Du Valon were the first to accomplish this feat in 1998-1999, Margie Engle (on Hidden Creek's Laurel) is the only other rider with this achievement having won in 2000-2001.


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In Spain in the Gijon Cajastur Grand Prix, Lauren Hough and Quick Study finished fifth and Laura Kraut and Unique were eighth.

For more information please click here.

ENDS


For more information about the U.S. High Performance programs click here.

The U.S. will send teams in eight different disciplines to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY, in September of 2010. Watch this space for information about the best in the U.S. on the road to Kentucky. For more information or to submit High Performance news, please e-mail Joanie Morris at [email protected].