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Misdee Wrigley Miller Claims USEF Championship
at Live Oak International

Misdee Wrigley Miller claimed her first USEF National Pair Driving Championship title on Sunday, March 24, at the 2013 Live Oak International in Ocala, FL.
Photo by PicsOfYou.com
Rafael Jose Contreras of the Dominican Republic flies to the finish riding Valencio R.A.G. in the $33,000 CSI2* Hollow Creek Farm Winning Round at the Live Oak International on Sunday, March 24, in Ocala, FL.
Photo by Mark Astrom
Rafael Jose Contreras of the Dominican Republic, mounted on Valencio R.A.G., won the $33,000 CSI2* Hollow Creek Farm Winning Round at the Live Oak International. Chester C. Weber, Co-President of the Live Oak International, and Angel Karolyi of Hollow Creek Farm make the presentation.
Photo by Mark Astrom

March 24, 2013 – Ocala, Florida – Misdee Wrigley Miller of Lakewood Ranch, FL, claimed her first United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) National Pair Driving Championship title on Sunday, March 24, at the 2013 Live Oak International in Ocala, FL.

Wrigley Miller staged a successful comeback in Sunday’s third and final phase of cones competition, earning a score of 5.61 penalty points with her horses, Beau and Snoopy.  With an overall three-phase total of 139.85 penalty points, Wrigley Miller was awarded the USEF National Pair Driving Championship as the highest-placed U.S. competitor.  Canada’s Rae Fischer of Listowel, ON, won the FEI Pair Horse division with a final score of 131.55 penalty points.

“Everyone kept saying “fight, keep fighting!”, and that’s what I had to do!” said Wrigley Miller, who had won the opening phase of dressage driving Beau and Rient W, but slipped to third position following a challenging day in Saturday’s marathon phase.

“Everything went great until the fourth hazard; I was a little too fast and got hung up on a post,” said Wrigley Miller of her trouble at the Morgan Stanley Bull Market hazard with her veteran Snoopy and the seven-year-old Beau, a new addition to her team.  “I was going back and forth and back and forth and, at the end of the day, I had to put my groom down, and that’s 10 penalty points added.  I wound up last in the marathon when I had been 12 points in the lead going into it, and ended up third in the overall standings.  I really had to fight today.  It’s been a roller coaster.  People say to never give up, it’s a three day event, and it’s not over until the last person drives through the cones, and it’s true.  And I won!”

Wrigley Miller was especially pleased to win the title at Live Oak, which has been hosting driving events for more than 20 years at Live Oak Plantation, the private 4,000-acre farm of the Weber family.

“I’ve been involved with Live Oak for almost since its conception,” said Wrigley Miller.  “I’m just so thrilled for Chester and his mom and his family that it’s grown into such an incredible international event.  It’s surely one of the top-ranked shows in the world.”

Offering the highest amount of prize money of any driving event in North America, Live Oak International is organized by nine-time winner of the USEF Four In Hand Driving Championship Chester C. Weber, his mother Charlotte C. Weber, and his sister, Juliet W. Reid, who led the Washington International Horse Show as President of the Board for the past four years.  Chester Weber was leading the FEI Four-in-Hand Team Horse division heading into Sunday’s final cones phase but, unfortunately, weather conditions prevented the competition from concluding.  The FEI Pony Team division, which had been led by Allison Stroud, was also unable to finish.

Prior to the stormy weather, Suzy Stafford overtook Paul Maye to win the FEI Single Pony division with a perfect cones performance and a final score of 113.76 penalty points while Wendy O’Brien held on to win the FEI Pair Pony division with 113.76.  Leslie Berndl won the FEI Single Horse division with 117.95 penalty points.

Bettina Scherer maintained her lead in the Intermediate Single Pony division with 114.55 while Boots Wright did the same in the Intermediate Pair Pony division, winning with 114.26.  John Levy driving Sky moved ahead of Robin Groves to win the Intermediate Single Horse division, which attracted a total of 12 entries.  Having won the dressage and marathon phases, Zenon Gal claimed the Intermediate Pair division with 134.86 penalty points.

While Misdee Wrigley Miller is a familiar face among the driving community, a newcomer to the international show jumping ranks won the $33,000 CSI2* Hollow Creek Winning Round competition on Sunday afternoon.  The format sees the top 10 riders, regardless of faults, advance to a second ‘winning round’ where everyone starts with a clean slate.  From the starting field of 29 entries, eight riders posted clear rounds and were joined in the winning round by Sharn Wordley of New Zealand and Kim Prince of the United States, both of whom had incurred one time fault in the opening round.

With the winning round underway, speed was the name of the game over the track set by two-time Olympic course designer Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela.  The times grew progressively faster until Andre Thieme of Germany took over the lead with a time of 47.60 seconds riding Clitschko 4.  With only one rider left to challenge, hopes were riding high on Rafael Jose Contreras of the Dominican Republic.  The 20-year-old did not disappoint, treating the crowd to an exuberant performance riding Valencio R.A.G. and stopping the clock in 44.91 seconds, almost three seconds faster than Thieme.

“It’s my first FEI win!” said a thrilled Contreras.  “I’ve had my horse for four years, and he’s a great horse.  He’s really spooky, but a good spooky.”

A college student in Santo Domingo, Contreras has been traveling back and forth to the United States for the past five years to train with Paulo Santana.  2013 marked his first trip to the Live Oak International, but he’s already making plans to return.

“I’ve never been here before, but for sure I’m going to come back!” promised Contreras.  “It was really, really nice, I enjoyed it here.  The course design and the footing are really good.  The owners are really nice people.”

Jerry Parks Insurance Group recognized Contreras as the Leading Amateur Rider, awarding him a $1,000 bonus, while Chloe Reid, daughter of Live Oak International Co-President Juliet W. Reid, was named the Leading Junior Rider and also received a $1,000 bonus.

Having won the $5,000 1.30m Waldron Wealth Management Power &Speed, the $10,000 E2 Show Jumpers Welcome Stake, and Saturday’s $50,000 CSI2* Live Oak International Grand Prix, it was no surprise that Todd Minikus of Wellington, FL, was awarded the $10,000 Leading Rider bonus, presented by G&C Farm.

For the first time, live coverage of the Live Oak International show jumping and driving competition was offered on the USEF Network at www.usefnetwork.com.  The Live Oak International is the only event in North America to feature both international show jumping and driving events.

Live Oak International wishes to recognize its generous sponsors for their support, including 14 Hands Vineyards, ABBA, Adequan, American Invitational, Michael Ayers, BB&T Chazel Insurance, Beloved Farm, Ned Bliss, Brandywine Tent, Camping World, Cannon Carriages, Cape Code Finished Wood Siding, Charles Owen, Cheney Brothers, Jane Forbes Clark, The Clothes Horse, Coast to Coast Truck & Trailer, Connollys Nursery, Dever, Don Stewart Stables, Dutta Corp, E2 Show Jumpers, Equine Journal, Fidelity Investments, Dr. Rae and Nancy Fischer, Florida Express, Freund, G&C Farm, Gloria Austin, Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club, Grand Oaks Resort & Carriage Museum, Great American Insurance Group, Hermitage International Training Center, Hillcroft Farm, Hilton, Hollow Creek Farm, Wayne Humphreys, Insight Credit Union, Iron Spring Farm, Jerry Parks Insurance Group, Joan Pletcher Realtor, John Deere, Johnson Horse Transportation, Pixie Keating, Kentucky Classic, Kentucky Equine Research, Mary Mott-Kocsis, John Levy, Louisburg Farm, Lugano Diamonds, Marion County Visitor and Convention Bureau, Mark's Steak House, Mid State Electric, Morgan Stanley, Ocala Star-Banner, Palm Chevrolet & Kia, Party Time Rentals, Pine Flakes, PlaneSense, Peterson & Smith, RBC, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, The Sanctuary, Seminole Wellness, Shepherd Kaplan LLC, Signature Brands ,Sleepy P Farm, SmartPak, Christine Smith-Byerly, Stella Artois, Stonecliff Farm, Tequestrian, Trout Walk Farm, Waldron Wealth Management, Harley Waller, Waterside Environmental Care, Woodside Stables, WR Ranch and Dave and Boots Wright.

For more information on the Live Oak International, including full results, please visit www.liveoakinternational.com.

$33,000 CSI2* Hollow Creek Farm Winning Round – Sunday, March 24, 2013

      Rider                                            Country                                 Horse                               Faults    Time
1.   Rafael Jose Contreras              Dominican Republic         Valencio R.A.G.              0            44.91
2.   Andre Thieme                              Germany                            Clitschko 4                       0            47.60
3.   Chloe Reid                                  United States                     Victor E                             0            47.73
4.   Sharn Wordley                             New Zealand                    Derly Chin de Muze       0            48.32
5.   Kim Prince                                     United States                   Windbreaker                    0            48.39
6.   Samuel Parot                                Chile                                 AL Calypso                       0            52.70
7.   Victor Segovia                               Venezuela                      Romeo                               4            46.45
8.   Francois Lamontagne                 Canada                           Coolio 17                           4            49.04
9.   Mark Bluman                                 Colombia                        G&C Lepanto                    8            44.60
10.  Manuel Fernandez Hache        Dominican Republic      Maribel H                          8            47.87

 


 
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