Sheila Burke of Elmira New York had her first taste of international glory winning the Grand Prix at CSIO Dublin, Ireland, part of the Samsung Super League Series, on Sunday, August 8th. Four of the five riders had clear rounds in the jump off with Burke aboard 12-year-old Holsteiner mare, Caya (HOL, Carthago Z -), clenching the fastest time of .86 second ahead of Ireland’s Jessica Kürten. Residing in Holland for a little over a year, this is Burke’s biggest win. “It was fantastic and the crowd which was very well educated in show jumping made it really exciting, says Burke.

Athens bound Peter Wylde who serves as Burke’s advisor points out that Sheila and Caya have shown great consistency in the European competitions this entire season. She was the US rider with the least amount of faults in the Nations Cup class at CSIO Hickstead (GBR) in July and finished in 2nd place just behind Molly Ashe in the Queen’s Cup. “The horse really trusts her. They have bonded very well together and are a world class combination. She has great feel and an eye for distance. Sheila is a great horsewoman and deserves all the credit. We are thrilled for her” states an enthusiastic Wylde.

The US team of Molly Ashe, Sheila Burke, Judy Garofalo and Lauren Hough tied with Great Britain for a respectable 3rd place finish in the Nations Cup at Dublin on Friday August, 6th. Burke on Caya along with veteran Nick Skelton (GBR) and Billy Twomey (IRL) were the only riders who achieved 2 double clear rounds.