FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING 2006/2007 - FINAL LAS VEGAS (USA)

LEVY LEADS THE WAY.....

America's Kate Levy was drawn first to go in the first leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final at the Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas tomorrow.

The starting order is as follows:

1, Kate Levy (USA); 2, Malin Baryard-Johnsson (Swe); 3, Rene Tebbel (Ger); 4, Patrick McEntee (Bel); 5, Christine Tribble-McCrea (USA); 6, Rodrigo Pessoa (Bra); 7, Edwina Alexander (Aus); 8, Mandy Porter (USA); 9, Gerco Schroder (Ned); 10, Daniel Deusser (Ger); 11. Schuyler Riley (USA); 12, Molly Ashe (USA); 13, Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst (Germany); 14, Markus Beerbaum (Germany); 15, Rich Fellers (USA); 16, Judy Ann Melchior (Bel); 17, Richard Spooner (USA); 18, Tony Andre Hansen (Nor); 19, Lukasz Jonczyk (Pol); 20, Marco Kutscher (Ger); 21, Steve Guerdat (Sui); 22, Jill Henselwood (Can); 23, Leopold Van Asten (Ned); 24, Lauren Hough (USA); 25, Alberto Michan (Mex); 26, Margie Goldstein-Engle (USA); 27, Marcus Ehning (Ger); 28, Krzystof Lukwiczak (Pol); 29, Christian Ahlmann (Ger); 30, Albert Zoer (Ned); 31, John Pearce (Can); 32, McLain Ward (USA); 33, Santiago Lambre (Mex); 34, Taizo Sugitani (Jpn); 35, A. Bin Metab Al Saud (KSA); 36, Beat Mandli (Sui); 37, Michael Whitaker (GBR); 38, Gavin Chester (Aus); 39, Jill Humphrey (USA); 40, Beezie Madden (USA); 41, Denis Gouvea (Bra); 42, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Ger).

Before the draw ceremony the FEI's First Vice-President, Mr Sven Holmberg, presented medals to three riders who have competed in 100 World Cup competitions - Canada's Jill Henselwood who first lined out in a World Cup class in 1989, Germany's Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum whose first appearance was in 1990 and Richard Spooner from the USA who made his World Cup debut in 1992.

America's Beezie Madden then joined Marcus Ehning to make the official draw and Capt John Roche, the FEI's Jumping Director, congratulated Marcus, the defending FEI World Cup™ champion on his 33rd birthday which is on 19th April but could already be celebrated as Germany is nine hours ahead of Las Vegas on the world clock.

The Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping title will be decided after three competitions which begin with Thursday's Speed leg followed by a power-jumping test in Friday's Grand Prix and the finale takes place over a Table A two-round class in which riders compete in reverse order of merit. The overall winner will be the competitor with the lowest number of penalties after the three Final competitions.

Rolex takes up sponsorship of the FEI World Cup™ Jumping series at the beginning of the 2007/2008 season and the two candidate venues for the 2009 final - Leipzig (Ger) and s'Hertogenbosch (Ned) will be the subject of discussion at the FEI Jumping Committee meeting which takes place in Las Vegas this Saturday.

Prize Money (in Swiss Francs) for Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final is CHF680,000 (ie €415,000, $565,000).
For Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final - 1, CHF100,000; 2, CHF50,000; 3, CHF32,000, 4, CHF27,000; 5, CHF22,000; 6, CHF18,000; 7, CHF15,000; 8, CHF13,000; 9, CHF10,000; 11, CHF6,000; 12, CHF5,000; 13, CHF4,000; 14, CHF4,000, 15, CHF3,000; 16, CHF3,000.

PROGRAMME OF JUMPING COMPETITIONS:

Thursday 19 April - 7.00pm - Jumping Final 1 - Speed Round
Friday 20 April - 7.00pm - Jumping Final 2 - Grand Prix
Saturday 21 April - 1.00pm - Las Vegas Grand Prix (not open to horses jumping in the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping third leg on Sunday)
Sunday 22 April - 12.00 - Jumping Final 3 - deciding competition.


YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE RULES FOR THE FEI WORLD CUP™ JUMPING RIDERS FROM FEI WEBSITE www.feiworldcup.org

FEI World Cup™ Jumping has entered its 29th season. The series, created in 1978, today comprises 14 leagues on all continents. The best riders from 132 preliminary competitions will qualify for the final in Las Vegas, USA which takes place from 19 to 22 April 2007. The title-holder is Germany's Marcus Ehning.

The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), founded in 1921, is the international body governing equestrian sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 133 National Federations.

Equestrian sport has been on the Olympic programme since 1912 with three disciplines - Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. It is one of the very few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms It is also the only sport which involves two athletes - horse and rider. The FEI has relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the horse, which is paramount and must never be subordinated to competitive or commercial influences.

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