News

October 5, 2005
BARYARD REPLACES BEERBAUM; HOUGH IN FOR FERNANDEZ; PRINCE TO RIDE FOR MADDEN IN LVWI, OCT. 14-15
World’s Top Show Jump Riders To Compete For $1 Million In Inaugural Las Vegas World Invitational

LAS VEGAS, October 5, 2005….Sweden’s Malin Baryard will replace Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum, American Lauren Hough will ride for Mexico’s Frederico Fernandez and Hume, VA’s Kimberly Prince will replace fellow American Beezie Madden in the inaugural Las Vegas World Invitational, October 14-15, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, LVWI officials announced today. Beerbaum, formerly the world’s number one ranked show jump rider, must serve as the best man in a wedding Oct. 15 in Germany. Due to recent eye surgery, Fernandez’ doctors will not allow him to ride in indoor events and Madden’s top horses have sustained injuries that will prevent her from participating. Baryard, Sweden’s top female rider, has been a member of the Swedish Olympic team since the ’96 games in Atlanta, Ga., and helped Sweden take home silver in the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain. Hough, from Wellington, Fla., rode for the U.S. Olympic team in Sydney and was a finalist in the CSI World Cup in April in Las Vegas. She is a former two-time winner of the National Horse Show Jumper Championship and rode for the U.S. team in the 2003 Pan Am Games. Prince was a top finisher in the 2005 Budweiser World Cup in Las Vegas in April and finished second in three 2005 Nations Cup events in Hickstead, England; Dublin, Ireland, and Palm Beach, Fla. She and Hough just led the U.S. team to a first-place finish in the Samsung Super League Nations Cup.

The inaugural Las Vegas World Invitational’s $1 million purse will be show jumping’s richest. The world’s top 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 will 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, $85, $100, $150, $225 $500 per night, and $1,000 for two-day, VIP package, 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 i4vegas.com.

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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.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information about the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), visit www.horsesport.org.

The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), which sanctions national events, is online at www.usef.org.

For more information about the Las Vegas World Invitational, visit www.lasvegasworldinvitational.com.