April 22, 2005 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON, will advance to Sunday’s third and final leg of competition at the 2005 Budweiser World Cup Final of Show Jumping running April 20-24 the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Following a clear round in Thursday’s opening speed phase where he placed tenth overall, Lamaze had eight faults on Friday night to move into 15th position in the standings. That puts him among the top competitors that advance to Sunday’s competition where the 2005 World Cup title will be decided.

Riding Tempete v/h Lindehof, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by Ashland Stables, Inc., Lamaze ran into trouble at the triple combination, knocking down fences 7b and 7c.

“The distance in between the first two jumps in the triple was really short, and I think he hit ‘b’ and then froze up for a second, causing the next fence to come down,” explained Lamaze, 37, who is making his fourth appearance in the annual World Cup Final. “It is always difficult riding those short distances with Tempete because he is such a big horse. He just got a little rattled, but then finished up well.”

Jill Henselwood of Oxford Mills, ON, the only other Canadian in the competition, incurred 12 faults in Friday’s competition, taking down fences 5, 7a and 13, the final obstacle on course. In 26th position following Thursday’s opening speed round riding Special Ed, an 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Juniper Farms, Henselwood finished her World Cup bid in 30th position.

A total of 41 riders challenged the 2005 Budweiser World Cup Final, jumping the tests set by course designer Guilherme Jorge of Brazil. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum of Germany won Friday night’s competition riding Shutterfly to move into the lead while fellow Germans, Alois Schweckhorst riding Candy 195 and Lars Nieberg riding Lucie 55, are tied for second position. Competition continues on Sunday, April 24, at 12 p.m. when the 2005 World Cup Champion will be crowned.