July 16, 2005 – East Dorset, Vermont – The Vermont Summer Festival is now sanctioned by Equine Canada, the national body for equestrian sport in Canada. For Canadian Olympian Beth Underhill, who will be competing in the $30,000 Battenkill Grand Prix on Sunday, July 17, there were also other factors that figured into her decision to compete at the Vermont horse show for the first time.

“I always like to experience new venues,” Underhill said. “We were in Culpeper (Virginia) last week and are planning to compete in Bromont (Quebec, Canada) the next two weeks, so it was a natural tour – Culpeper, Vermont, and Bromont. Logistically it made sense. Also, I had heard that the Vermont Summer Festival was a very nice show with a nice environment, and well-run, so I thought it would be a great new experience.”

Underhill, 42, operates Beth Underhill Stables in Schomberg, Ontario. She arrived with eight horses and three of her students to compete in the Manchester Summer Festival (July 13-17), opening week of the five-week horse show. Underhill is enthusiastic about the area and the event. “Beautiful, just beautiful,” Underhill said. “I love the topography, the mountains, the trees. It is just gorgeous. And the colonial style homes – that’s what I really enjoy. It’s almost as if time stopped and we can get back to a little more tranquility for the horses and ourselves. Fun restaurants and good shopping make the whole experience nice and enjoyable. We’ve really had a great time. Everyone has been very welcoming.” Underhill is equally impressed with the Harold Beebe Farm show grounds. “I found the facility and the footing excellent, and the course designing has been wonderful. Anthony D’Ambrosio, the course designer, has done a wonderful job.”

Underhill and her clients have been collecting good ribbons all week. “We’ve had some great results so far,” she said. She’s looking forward to the featured events on Sunday (July 17). Underhill will ride Magdaline, owned by Darryl B. Williams and Associates, Inc., in the $30,000 Battenkill Grand Prix. “I’m hoping that she’s on form,” Underhill said of the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare. “She’s been great so far this year.”

One of Underhill’s students, Carly Campbell-Cooper, 22, who just moved up to the Grand Prix level, will also compete in the Grand Prix. From 2000 to 2003, Campbell-Cooper was a successful competitor at the North American Young Riders’ Championships (NAYRC), winning three individual and four team medals between her former ride, Rex Get Busy and current mount Croft Temptation. Campbell-Cooper will be riding her NAYRC Gold Medal winning horse, Croft Temptation in the $30,000 Battenkill Grand Prix. “We’re really excited about that!” said Underhill. Underhill’s clients will also contest the $10,000 High Junior/Amateur-Owner Classic and the Junior/Amateur-Owner Low Classic on Sunday. “Hopefully, we’re ready to win!” Underhill said.

Underhill’s long list of world-class credentials includes competing at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics; the 1991 Pan American Games, where she won both Team and Individual Silver Medals; the 1999 Pan Am Games, where she won Team Bronze; and the 1998 World Equestrian Games in Rome, Italy. She also won the Canadian Show Jumping Championship title in 1994, 1996, and 1999. Underhill is the first woman to win the World Cup League – and she’s done it twice, 1993 and 1999.

Underhill is very familiar with the skills of Course Designer D’Ambrosio, and predicts the $30,000 Battenkill Grand Prix course will be very technical. “He’s building for a fairly broad group of horses and riders,” Underhill explained. “He’s going to have some very experienced riders and some less experienced riders that are moving up to that division. He’ll also have some younger horses as well as some more experienced horses. As a course designer he has quite a tricky job in that he has to challenge the more experienced horse-and-rider combinations but still keep it fair for the young horse-rider combinations. That’s where Anthony is very strong and a very experienced course designer. We’ll find a lot of technicality and certainly bigger jumps than in Friday’s Mini Prix, but I think he’ll stress more the technicality and try and make the riders make errors rather than over-facing the horses.”

Underhill explained that a designer could build a course to test the riders’ technical expertise by using related distances between the jumps, giving riders options in approaching the jumps. “He’ll probably make some difficult options in terms of distance,” Underhill said, “and that’s where a more experienced rider will have a little bit more knowledge or strength because they know their horse a little bit better or just have more experience. And a young horse is not as adept at being able to shorten and lengthen its stride as a more experienced horse is. Anthony will be trying to make some challenging distances between the jumps just to lead you into making a little bit of a mistake and hence having a rail.”

After contributing to the Canadian Team’s performance in Barcelona in 1992, Underhill qualified to compete in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but had to withdraw prior to the Games due to injury incurred by her mounts. Does Underhill have her sites set on the 2008 Beijing Olympics with her current mount Magdaline? “This is her second season, so time will tell,” Underhill said with a smile. “I take it one day at a time.”

Featured Classes Upcoming at Vermont Summer Festival
As per tradition, the Vermont Summer Festival will feature a $10,000 Mini Prix every Friday, as well as a $30,000 Grand Prix held each Sunday for the first four weeks. New for 2005, the Vermont Summer Festival will conclude with a grand finale, the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix. Each of the five weeks will also feature a $10,000 Show Jumping Hall Of Fame High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper class, part of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series. Marshall & Sterling and North American League (NAL) classes are also held throughout the five weeks of competition.

For further information on the 2005 Vermont Summer Festival, please visit www.vt-summerfestival.com, e-mail: info@vt-summerfestival.com or call (802) 496-9667 or (802) 362-9023.