United States Show Jumping Team Celebrates Jaw Dropping Victory at World Equestrian Festival; Vaults into First Place on International Samsung Super League Leader Board

Lexington, KY – McLain Ward, Beezie Madden, Jeffrey Welles and Laura Kraut teamed up to pull out all the stops Friday giving America one of the most sought-after show jumping wins in the world, the Samsung Super League Nations Cup at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany. The team is under the direction of coach George Morris or “Magic Morris,” the affectionate nickname now circulating.

“To win at Aachen is only second to winning a Team Gold medal at the Olympics,” said McLain Ward of Brewster, New York. One of only two in the entire competition to jump a double-clear round, Ward summed it up beautifully when he indicated, “It’s a good day for America.”

The win not only means well-deserved cheers of celebration – it more importantly means the United States now tops the leader board with 43 points for the entire 2005 Samsung Super League series, the most competitive show jumping league in the world, comprised of eight competitions in different European cities and contested from May through September. In the Euro-dominated sport of show jumping, the United States is the only non-European team which qualified to compete in the Super League, and has the most geographical challenges in maintaining a team. Each year, a Super League champion is crowned at the final competition, which will take place this year on September 18th in Barcelona, Spain. With Aachen the second to last stop on the League schedule, things are definitely looking positive for the United States.

McLain Ward’s participation seemed questionable at first, after breaking his collar bone in the Samsung Super League competition at Hickstead, England at the end of July, but the 29-year-old Silver-medal athlete from the Athens Olympic Games rode through the pain, which he admitted, “is interfering to some degree.”

“It suddenly got better today after winning the Nations Cup!” he laughed. “I’d been struggling a bit all week, so I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but I put my trust in my horse, Sapphire, and it turned out fantastically well.”

Teammate Jeffrey Welles of Ridgefield, Connecticut, a first-timer to the scene at Aachen was equally thrilled. “To win today was just an awesome feeling. In the first round, there were quite a few who rode clear. For the second round, they raised the jumps a little and with the horses being tired, the scores across the board weren’t as good. Our team was very consistent from the first round to the second round, which is what counts at the Nations Cup. It’s great to be here representing our country—we’re so psyched!”

“This is the biggest Nations Cup of the year,” added the other Silver-medal winner from Athens, Beezie Madden, one of the United States’ star riders. “Everybody had their best team here and the United States came out on top so it’s very exciting.”

Madden, who has represented the United States in all but one of the 2005 Samsung Super League competitions, said it helped that she could breathe a little more easily going into the second round, thanks to the “nice cushion my teammates gave me. They helped to take a lot of the pressure off being the anchor rider.” After an admittedly slow week, Madden said, “to have it all pull together today, it worked out really well.”

As happy as the riders were, the excitement of their coach, legendary show jumper George Morris, of Flemington, New Jersey, couldn’t be outdone.

“We had four super, super riders,” beamed Morris. “Beezie, Laura, Jeffrey and McLain—they don’t ride better than that, and with lovely horses. They were all at the top of their game.”

But the message he’s most looking forward to sharing is the solidarity of equestrian sport in America. “These people should not underestimate American riding, American training and American management. They’re too quick to look to other countries to solve their problems. They should solve it with our system. It’s second to none!”

For complete coverage, log onto www.horsesport.org.

U.S. Rider Stats from the Nations Cup at CHIO Aachen 2005, August 26, 2005:

Jeffery Welles of Ridgefield, CT, riding Armani (10-year-old KWPN Dutch Warmblood gelding; owned by Kimmel-Yeager Equine LLC and Triton Ventures)

First Round: 4 faults, 82.30 seconds; Second Round: 5 faults, 83.04 seconds

Laura Kraut of Oconomowoc, WI, riding Miss Independent (8-year-old KWPN Dutch Warmblood mare; owned by Pasmore Stables, LLC)

First Round: 4 faults, 81.62 seconds; Second Round: 12 faults, 81.79 seconds

McLain Ward of Brewster, NY, riding Sapphire (10-year-old BWP mare; owned by Double H Farm)

First Round: 0 faults, 81.68 seconds; Second Round: 0 faults, 82.93 seconds

Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY, riding Authentic (10-year-old KWPN Dutch Warmblood gelding; owned by Abigail Wexner)

First Round: 0 faults, 78.05 seconds; Second Round: 4 faults, 80.46 seconds

Overall results, courtesy of the FEI (International Equestrian Federation)

1. USA - 13 faults: Armani (Jeffery Welles) 4/5, Miss Independent (Laura Kraut) 4/12, Sapphire (McLain Ward) 0/0, Authentic (Beezie Madden) 0/4.

Equal 2. The Netherlands - 21 faults: BMC Nassau (Jeroen Dubbeldam) 0/12, Oliver Q (Harrie Smolders) 8/5, Nairobi (Leon Thijssen) 4/13, Eurocommerce Monaco (Gerco Schroder) 0/0.

Equal 2. France - 21 faults: First de Launay (Florian Angot) 4/8, Obelix (Herve Godignon) 4/1, Crocus Graverie (Gilles Bertran de Balanda) 0/4, Cigale du Taillis (Eugenie Angot) 9/9.

Equal 4. Switzerland - 22 faults: La Toya (Markus Fuchs) 1/4, LB No Mercy (Christina Liebherr) 4/4, Cantus (Niklaus Schurtenberger) 1/8, Tijl van het Pallieterland (Steve Guerdat) 5/13.

Equal 4. Great Britain - 22 faults: Arko (Nick Skelton) 4/0, Cortaflex Mondriaan (William Funnell) 5/13, AK Locarno (Ellen Whitaker) 1/12, Portofino (Michael Whitaker) 0/5.

6. Belgium - 24 faults: Osta Rugs Quintus (Jean Claude Vangeenberghe) 8/12, Clinton (Dirk Demeersman) 4/4, Parco (Ludo Philippaerts) 8/4, Cavalor Cumano (Jos Lansink) 4/0.

7. Germany - 30 faults: Gitania (Marcus Ehning) 0/8, Montender (Marco

Kutscher) 8/12, Checkmate (Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum) 4/4, L'Espoir (Ludger Beerbaum) 5/9.

8. Ireland - 32 faults: World Cruise (Shane Breen) 0/12, Condios (Dermott Lennon) 4/8, Killossery (Shane Carey) 13/4, Anastasia (Billy

Twomey) 4/12.

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE LEADERBOARD (after Round 7 in Aachen):

1. USA - 43

2. Germany - 39

3. Great Britain - 37

4. Switzerland - 28

5. France - 27.5

6. Belgium - 19

7. The Netherlands - 18.5

8. Ireland - 15

For more information, please contact Sarah Lane, Public Relations Manager, on (859) 225-6974 or via e-mail at slane@usef.org. USEF press releases can be found on our website, www.usef.org.