Wellington, FL - The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), which has 12 weeks of competition from January 12 to April 3, will once again host the Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series this year, which will now feature a $50,000 bonus.

The $25,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Classics are held weekly through week 11. The final class, the $30,000 Suncast® 1.50 Jumper Championship, will be held on Sunday, March 27 (WEF 11), and it will be an FEI ROLEX ranking class. The top three horse/rider combinations in the Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series will be given bonus awards of $25,000 for first place, $15,000 to second, and third will receive $10,000.

"We are extremely pleased to offer another rider bonus award during the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival," said Michael Stone, President of Equestrian Sport Productions. "Suncast and Tom Tisbo have really shown their generosity in sponsoring at the FTI WEF, and this new award will add excitement and incentive for riders."

"The 1.50m Series gives a larger range of riders an opportunity to participate in a big class that will test their readiness for Grand Prix competition. The addition of the $50,000 rider/horse bonus only elevates the prestige, participation, and spectator interest of an already popular event," added Lauren Tisbo, Special Events Marketing Coordinator for the Suncast® Corporation.

Throughout the series, horse/rider combinations will accumulate points for the Suncast® bonus award. A rider bonus will be awarded to the top three Horse/Rider combinations who gain the most points from the Suncast® Championship Jumper Series held at WEF 1-11 according to the following points system.

The top 25 Horse/Rider combinations of each Suncast® 1.50m Jumper Classic will get points based on the number of riders in the competition plus one; i.e. if there are 50 in the class then the winner will get 51, second place receives 49, the third place gets 48, etc., down to 25th place. In the event of a tie on points, the winner of the most Suncast® 1.50m classes will be the leader. If there is still a tie, then the rider who has won the most money from the Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Classics will be the winner.

The bonus of $50,000 will be presented during the Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Final on Sunday, March 27.

ENDS