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Las Vegas, NV – The inaugural Las Vegas World Invitational got off to a promising start at Las Vegas’ Thomas and Mack Arena Friday night, crowning Georgina Bloomberg, of New York, NY, the winner of the Knock-Out class, and Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa the winner of the Casino Classic, two of four classes which make up the United States’ first ever five-star, million-dollar show jumping event.

“It was my first knock-out…I was a little nervous at first,” said Bloomberg after winning $16,000 for her first-place ride with Nadia. Even after breaking her collarbone a mere three weeks ago, the 22-year-old dynamo packed a powerful punch aboard Nadia, who would prove the fastest horse of the bunch.

Starting with sixteen show jumpers, the Knock-Out pitted eight sets of two riders against each other in a race against the clock, with each horse and rider pair riding a mirror-image course at the same time. Little by little, the pairs were whittled down until only two remained: Bloomberg and Great Britain’s Michael Whitaker.

Bloomberg said before the last ride, she took a moment to reflect, realizing, “the company you’re in is pretty fantastic. Even if I didn’t make it, it was okay,” she said thoughtfully.

Following the Knock-Out, 25 riders saddled up for a more traditional Grand Prix style competition, the Casino Classic, where Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa rode Baloubet Du Rouet to an impressive double clear round with the time to beat in the jump-off—a closely shaved 27.06 seconds. Pessoa earned $25,000 with his cleanly executed and accurate ride.

The real money lies in Saturday night’s competition though, figuratively and literally, with the $750,000 Las Vegas World Invitational Grand Prix beckoning some of the world’s most talented riders to the ring—many of them Olympic champions. The winner of Saturday night’s long-awaited class will earn a tidy sum of $245,000.

Top Eight Results from the Knock-out, Friday, October 14
Rider, Country, Horse, Prize Money Won

1. Georgina Bloomberg, USA, Nadia, $16,000
2. Michael Whitaker, GBR, Iqbal des Hayettes, $11,000
3T. Ludo Philippaerts, BEL, Tauber vh Kapelhof, $8,000
3T. Rodrigo Pessoa, BRA, Queen Z, $8,000
5T. Jessica Kurten, IRL, Castleforbes Libertina, $1,750
5T. Laura Kraut, USA, Da Silva Hero, $1,750
5T. Schuyler Riley, USA, Punker, $1,750
5T. Ian Miller, CAN, Nero 138, $1,750

Top Ten Results from the Casino Classic, Friday, October 14
Rider, Country, Horse, Jump-off Time, Prize Money Won

1. Rodrigo Pessoa, BRA, Baloubet Du Rouet, 27.06 seconds, $25,000
2. Jessica Kurten, IRL, Quibell, 27.84 seconds, $16,600
3. Marcus Ehning, GER, Gitania 8, 28.08 seconds, $9,000
4. Ian Millar, CAN, In Style, 28.38 seconds, $6,400
5. Anne Kursinski, USA, Roxana 112, 28.88 seconds, $3,000
6. McLain ward, USA, Oasis, 28.98 seconds, $3,000
7. Michael Whitaker, GBR, Portofino 63, 29.23 seconds, $3,000
8. Marco Kutscher, GER, Cash 63, 29.99 seconds, $3,000
9. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, GER, 30.31 seconds, Checkmate 4, $1,500
10. Nick Skelton, GBR, Arko III, 36.72 seconds (with one time fault), $1,500
~~~For more information, please contact Sarah Lane, Public Relations Manager at (859) 225-6974 or via e-mail at [email protected]. USEF press releases are available on our web site – www.usef.org.