Cazenovia, NY - November 2, 2010 - The 2010 Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament featuring the 127th National Horse Show began its first day of competition on Tuesday with Atlas Fence Local Day. Held at the Oncenter complex in downtown Syracuse, local riders had the opportunity compete at the prestigious horse show in the hunter, equitation, and jumper divisions. Class winners included Jennifer Dalhman-Gurney, Addison Evans, and Chris Mitchell.

Competing first in the evening, the Beacon Hill Horse Transportation 3' Hunter Classic was held in a two round format. Jennifer Dalhman-Gurney and her horse The Other Brother were presented with the 'Meg Ninos' Memorial Perpetual Trophy thanks to Mrs. Peggy Ninos and her son John. Gurney earned scores of 81 and 80 to top both rounds of competition and win the class with a two round total of 161. Michele Kreimeyer and Sings the Blues finished in second place with a two round total of 159. Melissa Rowe earned third place with a score of 156 riding Union Bay.

Jennifer Dalhman-Gurney is from Cazenovia, NY, and trains with Gary Duffy. She has had The Other Brother, a 14-year-old Hanoverian, for three years "He's just an absolute pleasure," the rider smiled. "When you have him prepped right you basically just sit there and enjoy the ride; he's pretty reliable."

The pair shows in the Amateur-Owner Hunter 3'3" division and won the North American League Finals in Harrisburg last year. Gurney was thrilled to compete in Syracuse and get a win in front of her home town crowd. "Its great to win here; you always come here and hope for a good showing and when things actually come together it's a big high," she stated. "I have a lot of friends and family here who came to watch so it's nice to perform well for them."

The Central New York (CNY) Equine 3' Open Equitation class was held next with top honors awarded to Addison Evans aboard Telluride. Nicole Twardzik and Just Dessert finished in second, Chelsea Babcock and Caiza finished in third, and Evellyn DeMitchell rode Step 'N' Fetch It to the fourth place honors. The winning rider Addison Evans was presented with her award from CNY Equine thanks to Nicolle Madonna and her escort, Mike Cerio.

Local nineteen-year-old rider Addison Evans trains with Joanna Copeland and Kimberly Allen. Evans owns Telluride and bought the 16-year-old Oldenburg gelding in January of this year. "We started showing in the three-foot hunters and he is awesome; I couldn't ask for a better horse," Evans smiled. "This is my first time in the ring and my first time for everything here. It's really cool because I've come here to watch the Grand Prix and I've always wanted to show here. When I got the opportunity I was so excited."

Following the equitation class, a special presentation was made by the New York State Task Force and the ASPCA. The organizations were delighted to be able to honor three very special horses that were entered in today's classes, all Thoroughbreds who had spent an earlier part of their life as a race horse and transitioned to the show ring. The three horses honored by Dr. Karin Bump on behalf of the ASPCA were Battle Royale, ridden by Kierstyn Duggleby, Just One More, ridden by Alexis Tierney Kuhl, and Just Dessert, ridden by Nicole Twardzik.

The final class of the evening was the Fair Haven Farm 3'6" Open Jumper Time First Jump-Off, with top honors presented to Chris Mitchell riding Isabel Aguirre's horse Urben. Mitchell received the first place award from Darlene Sandlin for coming out as the only clear round of the four-horse jump-off. Keely O'Hara rode First Edition to second place with the fastest four-fault round. Jennifer Sears-Mason and Kiera finished in third place and Evellyn DeMitchell rode The Bear to fourth.

Chris Mitchell rides and trains in Dryden, NY, and is the coach of the Cornell University Equestrian Team. The trainer's client was supposed to show Urben in tonight's class, but has been sick and could not show. Mitchell stepped in to ride the horse and was thrilled with the opportunity to show.

"I got lucky with the ride," Mitchell stated. "I've never shown here before, but I have trained at this horse show before. This horse is so much fun and we don't get to show at an event like this at a venue like this at all so I think it is wonderful. I was really excited when I heard that we were doing a local day here so we tried to get a bunch of clients to come up. I thank John and Beezie and everyone else who is involved with this horse show for the things they do for us local trainers."

The 2010 Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament featuring the 127th National Horse Show will continue tomorrow with a full schedule of hunter competition including the professionals, amateur-owners, and juniors. The 2010 Educational Expo presented by Equus and Practical Horseman will also get underway tomorrow with numerous seminars for spectators to enjoy throughout the week.

Competition tickets are on sale for the Syracuse Invitational through the Oncenter Box Office (315-435-2121) and Ticketmaster. The Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization that benefits Cornell University Equine Hospital and Vera House.

The National Horse Show was founded in 1883 at the original Madison Square Garden, the National Horse Show is America's oldest indoor horse show and as a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization, provides financial aid to many worthwhile charities. For more information on the National Horse Show, please visit www.nhs.org.

For a full list of events, please visit www.SyracuseInvitational.com.