May 10, 2004 – La Baule, France – Ireland’s Kevin Babington, a rider representative for JustWorld International, and Herve Godignon, a member of the ‘Jump for a Just World’ Advisory Board, both claimed victories at CSIO La Baule, France.

Babington ended the international outdoor event with a win in the Grand Prix of La Baule on May 9, 2004.  Riding his veteran partner, Carling King, Babington was one of 18 riders to advance to the second round of the major grand prix event.  Having gone clear in the opening round with a slower time, Babington was seventh back in the order of go for the second round.  Before entering the ring to lay down what would become the winning round, Babington watched France’s own Michel Robert put in another clear round in a fast time of 41.95 seconds and knew what he had to do to beat him.  Babington left out strides where he could to turn in a time of 41.60 seconds.

“Carling King was in top form, it was as good as he has ever jumped!” praised Babington of Saly Glassman’s 13-year-old chestnut Irish-bred gelding by Clover Hill.  “It is a brand new facility with new footing and the conditions were perfect.”

Babington’s time held all the way to the end with none of the 11 riders who followed able to catch his time.  Robert finished in second position riding Galet d’Auzay, while Dutch rider Wim Schroder placed third in a slower time of 42.54 seconds.  Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum, who was a member of the victorious Nations’ Cup team on Friday, was fourth aboard Goldfever with a time of 42.57 seconds while the only other double clear performance came from France’s Edouard Couperie and Pro Pilot II.

“The last line was very difficult, it was a triple bar to a triple combination to an oxer to finish, and it caught quite a lot of the riders,” noted Babington, 35, who hails from Tipperary and currently trains in Gwynedd Valley, PA.

Babington and Carling King have won three of the five grand prix events they have contested so far in 2004, including the $75,000 PDP Capital Masters Cup and the $100,000 Cosequin U.S. Open Jumper Championship, both held in Wellington, FL, and have already been named to the Irish Show Jumping Team for the upcoming 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

For his victory at La Baule, Babington received 22,000 Euros in prize money from the total purse of 100,000.  As one of seven JustWorld International rider representatives, Babington donates a portion of all prize money won to the organization.  JustWorld International is a not-for-profit, humanitarian organization whose mission is to prepare and empower students to become visionary leaders and work for social justice.

In addition to Babington’s win in the Grand Prix, Herve Godignon of France, who sits on the ‘Jump for a Just World’ Advisory Board, was victorious in the Speed Derby on Saturday, May 8, 2004.  Despite leaving all the rails in their cups, Godignon barely touched the tape at the open water jump to incur four faults, still good enough to claim the win over the challenging course.  Runner-up Michel Hecart of France incurred eight faults with That’s Life while Schroder once again took third place, this time riding Eurocommerce Rome.

Olaf Peterson of Germany set the newly designed Derby track with assistance from French course designer Serge Houtmann, also a member of the ‘Jump for a Just World’ Board of Advisors.

Godignon, 52, was aboard his long-time partner, Calypso d’Herbiers.  Godignon has been partnered with the 14-year-old selle francais stallion throughout the horse’s career, winning the Four, Five, Six and Seven-Year-Old Young Horse French National Championships.  The win was especially meaningful for the veteran Olympian as he had won the first grand prix event of his career at La Baule in 1976.

Godignon will also be hosting a ‘Jump for a Just World’ benefit during his inaugural ‘Jump Eure’ show, held July 1-4 at his facility, Haras Seabird, located exactly 50 miles from the heart of Paris, France.

“I agree with the purpose of JustWorld International,” noted Godignon of his involvement.  “I think it is important to change the mentality, to educate people.  I think it is a great idea, and I am happy to try to help the people who benefit from JustWorld’s work.”

Jessica Newman, Executive Director of JustWorld International, was thrilled by the pair of victories by two riders involved with the organization.

“To have both of these riders who give so much of themselves to the humanitarian work of JustWorld sweep major victories in the first CSIO of the year in Europe really makes me believe that when you give of yourself, you are rewarded,” noted Newman, 28, who sacrificed her own grand prix riding career in order to concentrate on the formation and development of JustWorld International after working with street children in Honduras.  “It is amazing to have riders and people of their quality and integrity representing JustWorld International.  I feel very privileged and honoured to work with such great people.”

JustWorld International offers fellowship programs for students from around the globe to learn leadership skills, the tools that they can use to make a positive difference in the world.  With seven project sites already located in such underprivileged nations as Honduras, Cambodia, Romania and Senegal and several other project sites awaiting funding, students have the opportunity to work for change in a wide variety of environments on behalf of JustWorld International.  For further information on JustWorld International, please visit www.justworldinternational.org.