Top Ranked 25 Riders Announced for $1 Million Las Vegas World Invitational

Officials of the Las Vegas World Invitational today announced the international field of 25 top-ranked riders who will compete for $1 million in prize money, show jumping’s richest purse, on October 14-15 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Seven riders are from the United States, seven from Germany, three from Great Britain, two from Switzerland and one each from Brazil, Ireland, Iran, Belgium, Canada and Mexico.

They will go head-to-head in four events during the two days in the inaugural Las Vegas World Invitational, which has been rated a five-star event (CSI 5*) by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), the only show in the United States to be rated at that level.

LVWI officials also announced today that the Las Vegas Hilton’s race and sports SuperBook® will set odds and accept wagers on the competition, a first for an international show jumping event in the U.S.  The odds will be posted in the near future.  The Las Vegas Hilton is the host hotel and an official sponsor of the LVWI.

Heading the list of riders is Belgian-based Brazilian Rodrigo Pessoa from Brussels, who is the current FEI number-one ranked show jumper in the world and the Athens Olympic gold medallist.

Markus Fuchs, from St. Josefen, St. Gallen, Switzerland, who is currently ranked number two in the world and is a five-time member of the Swiss Olympic show jumping team.  Joining Fuchs from Switzerland is Steve Guerdat, a member of the Athens Olympic team and a sixth-place finisher at the 2005 World Cup in Las Vegas.  He resides in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands.

The U.S. riders are: Elizabeth “Beezie” Madden, the top-ranked American internationally, according to the FEI Gandini Jumping Riders’ World Ranking List, and a Team Silver Medalist from the Athens Olympic Games, from Cazenovia, New York; Laura Kraut, a member of the U.S. Show Jumping Team from the Sydney Olympic Games and a competitor at the 2005 Budweiser FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final in Las Vegas, and the recent winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hickstead, England, from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin; Schuyler Riley, a member of the winning Samsung Super League Series U.S. Team in La Baule, France, and a competitor in the 2005 Budweiser FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final in Las Vegas, from Wellington, Florida; McLain Ward, a member of the Silver Medal-winning U.S. Show Jumping Team at the Athens Olympic Games, and a competitor in the 2005 Budweiser FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final in Las Vegas, from Brewster, New York; Anne Kursinski, two-time Olympic Silver-medalist and a competitor in the 2005 Budweiser FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final in Las Vegas, from Frenchtown, New Jersey; Richard Spooner, a winner of seven Grand Prix events in 2005, and a competitor at the 2005 Budweiser FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final in Las Vegas, from Burbank, California; and Georgina Bloomberg, named leading rider at La Baule, France, and a competitor at the 2005 Budweiser FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final in Las Vegas, from New York, New York.

The German riders include: Ludger Beerbaum, formerly the world’s top-ranked show jumper, from Riesenbeck; U.S. born Meredith Michaels Beerbaum, Ludger’s sister-in-law, reigning World Cup champion in Las Vegas and the FEI 2004 Rider of the Year, from Thedinghausen; Marcus Ehning, a winner of 36 Grand Prix events and a 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist, from Borken; Lars Nieberg, a finalist at the 2005 Las Vegas World Cup and a former European champion, from Hamburg; Otto Becker, Olympic team champion and a World Cup finalist in Milan, Italy, from Steinfeld; Christian Ahlmann, an Athens Olympian and a protégé of Ludger Beerbaum, from Marl; and Marco Kutscher, another member of the Athens Olympic gold-medal team and also a finalist in the 2005 World Cup in Las Vegas, from Riesenbeck. Kutscher is also the reigning European champion.

The British riders are:  Nick Skelton from Rowington, England, who is a five-time Olympian, a six-time World Champion medallist and a 10-time European champion; Michael Whitaker, an Olympic, World and European champion and a four-time winner of the King George V Cup, from Huddersfield, England; and Robert Smith, from Warwick, England, a member of the Athens Olympic team.

Jessica Kurten, a native of Cullybackey, County Anterim, Northern Ireland, will represent Ireland in the LVWI.  Currently based in Rheinland, Germany, she was a member of the Athens Irish Olympic team and is only the third Irish woman to win the Queen Elizabeth Cup.

Veteran Ian Millar from Perth, Ontario, will represent Canada.  He is a nine-time Canadian champion, a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and has represented his country in more than 90 Nations’ Cup events.

 Frederico Fernandez from Huixquilucan de Mexico.  He was a member of the 2004 Mexican Olympic and 2003 Pan Am Games teams.

The sole Belgian representative is Ludo Philippaerts, from Gruitrode, a four-time Olympian and a 10-time World Cup finalist, and the Iranian rider is Ali Nilforushun, who rides for Iran in the West Coast World Cup League and is a member of its Olympic team.  He lives and trains in San Diego, California.

Riders will compete in the $100,000 Vegas Stake, a speed event that features one round, plus a jump-off against the clock; the $50,000 Knockout, where riders will race against each other on identical courses; the $100,000 Ride and Drive, a unique event where riders first complete a jumping course on a horse, then finish an obstacle course in a car; and the $750,000 Grand Prix, a premier jumping event.

Tickets, $75, $175, $225, and $1,000 for two-day, VIP packages, are available at the Thomas & Mack Center box office in Las Vegas, by telephone at 1-866-388-3267, at unlvtickets.com or at the Las Vegas Hilton, the official host hotel and a sponsor of the LVWI.  Ticket purchases are subject to transaction fees.   Room reservations at the Hilton are available by calling 1-800-442-4002 or at www.i4vegas.com .

The international sanctioning body for equestrian sport is the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), headquartered in Lexington, KY, is the national sanctioning body for the LVWI.

Equus Entertainment in Sport of Las Vegas is the parent company of the LVWI.  Its mission is to take show jumping to a new level in the U.S.  As the sport’s worldwide popularity increases in the U.S., Equus is playing a major role in that growth by presenting the sport on television as never before.  Equus’ coverage includes cutting edge techniques that utilize moving cameras at close proximity and low angles to show the extreme athleticism of horses and riders.