October 15, 2005 – Las Vegas, Nevada – The stakes were high in the sport of show jumping on Saturday night in Las Vegas, but the bookmakers were right on the money when they put Olympic champion Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil at the best odds to win the $750,000 Las Vegas World Invitational Grand Prix, one of the richest grand prix events in the world. For the first time in the United States, fans were able to wager on the outcome and the Las Vegas Hilton SuperBook® had Pessoa as the favorite at 3-1 odds.

The top 25 riders in the world tackled the course set by Olaf Petersen of Germany but only six were able to pass the test and advance to the jump-off. Reigning World Cup Champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, a California native now representing Germany, was first to return for the jump-off. She and Checkmate 4 made quick work of the shortened seven-obstacle course, stopping the timers at 31.53 seconds.

Four-time Olympian Michael Whitaker of Great Britain took up the challenge on Portofino 63, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, but his time of 31.62 left him just short of Michaels-Beerbaum’s time.

When Rodrigo Pessoa, winner of Friday night’s $75,000 Martin Collins ‘Let It Ride’ Grand Prix, entered the Thomas and Mack Center on Baloubet de Rouet, a hush came over the crowd. Pessoa was nothing short of perfect, meeting every fence right on and making seemingly impossible tight turns. When he broke through the timers, the clock showed a time of 29.64 seconds, almost two full seconds faster than Michaels-Beerbaum.

Three riders were still to follow, and the first, Lars Nieberg of Germany, took the final two fences down for eight faults with Loreana. British veteran Nick Skelton gave it his best shot riding the 11-year-old Oldenburg stallion, Arko III, but his time of 30.45 seconds was not good enough. The final challenger, Irish Olympian Jessica Kurten, saw her chances of winning come to end when she took a rail for four faults.

And so, Olympic Champion Pessoa and his brilliant 16-year-old selle francais stallion added yet another impressive victory to their ever-growing list of accomplishments, and became $250,000 richer in the process.

“You can’t leave anything on the table when you know you still have three riders to come behind you,” said Pessoa, 32, who won three consecutive World Cup Champion titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000 with Baloubet de Rouet. “All of the jumps just came up spot on from the first to the last. My horse covers the ground well, he has experience turning, and he stays cool even when we go fast. He is one of the best horses out there, so he makes my job easy.”

Skelton noted that, “although my horse jumped well, it would have been difficult to beat Rodrigo. It was a good course, and it worked out well.”

Michaels-Beerbaum, who won the 2005 World Cup Final here in Las Vegas in April, was not aboard her World Cup partner, Shutterfly, but instead brought Checkmate 4, a 10-year-old Hannoverian gelding.

“I don’t have enough experience with this horse to have caught Rodrigo’s time,” she said. “But I do think Checkmate has a big future.”

The inaugural $1 million Las Vegas World Invitational, comprised of four classes held over two days and designated as a CSI5* event by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), saw 25 of world’s best show jumping athletes competing for one of the sport’s richest purse. The riders all expressed their pleasure with the inaugural $1 million Las Vegas Invitational.

“It was a really good event, it is difficult to do a show like this for the first time, but they hired the right people and Simon Brooks-Ward and his team did a great job,” said Pessoa.

“I really hope we can come back here next year, it was a great event for us riders,” added Michaels-Beerbaum.

Competition organizers, Equus Entertainment in Sports, have confirmed that the event will be held again in 2006.

“The feedback has been extraordinarily positive, and we are extremely pleased,” said David Shriner, Chairman and CEO of Equus Entertainment in Sports. “We look at this as a long term plan and we have to build an audience. When the people that were here go out and tell their friends how great it was, we are confident the crowds will be here next year. We hope that the word will spread that this is no ordinary horse show, it is an event.”


Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat Races to Victory in Ride and Drive

The $65,000 Ride and Drive kicked off the evening’s entertainment, with riders jumping a course, dismounting, and driving through an obstacle course with the clock running all the while.

Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat steered Hermes Rouge to a fast and clear round, then dismounted and took over the steering wheel. Despite knocking over one cone on the driving course to incur a two-second penalty, Guerdat still managed to stop the clock at 73.49 seconds to score victory. For his efforts, Guerdat takes a new Dodge Charger back to his training base in the Netherlands.

“I am not used to riding in this type of class, but I did it for the show and the great prize money,” said Guerdat, a 23-year-old talent who is following in his father’s footsteps by representing Switzerland in international competition. “The course was good and it was fun, but I was not crazy about the driving. I was really fast with the horse, and then just tried to do well with the car. Overall, it is a fantastic show and it’s great to be here!”

Although accustomed to having the steering wheel on the opposite of the car and driving a stick shift, two British riders took second and third positions. Robert Smith and Gerry Maguire placed second with a time at 74.77 seconds while Michael Whitaker and Iqbal des Hayettes slid into third place with a time of 74.87 seconds.


CBS Sports will broadcast the Las Vegas World Invitational on New Year’s Eve, December 31. For more information on the CSI5* Las Vegas World Invitational, please visit www.lasvegasworldinvitational.com. Full results can be found at www.scg-nl.nl.

---

Rider Country Horse Faults Time Prize Money
1. Rodrigo Pessoa Brazil Baloubet de Rouet 0:0 29.64 $250,000
2. Nick Skelton Great Britain Arko III 0:0 30.45 $178,000
3. Meredith M.-Beerbaum Germany Checkmate 4 0:0 31.53 $114,500
4. Michael Whitaker Great Britain Portofino 63 0:0 31.62 $75,000
5. Jessica Kurten Ireland Quibell 0:4 33.51 $35,750
6. Lars Nieberg Germany Loreana 0:8 31.15 $26,250