October 14, 2005 – Las Vegas, Nevada – The stage is set and the curtain is ready to go up on the most exciting new competition in the sport of show jumping, the $1 million Las Vegas World Invitational, taking place on Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Designated as a CSI5* event by the International Equestrian Federation, the two-day competition features the top 25 riders in the world invited to compete for a rare purse of $1 million dollars, making it one of the richest show jumping events in equestrian sport. The top 15 athletes in the World Rider Rankings received invitations, as did the top five in the United States Rider Rankings. An additional five wild cards were issued, resulting in a starting field stocked with Olympic and World Champions.

Course designer Olaf Petersen of Germany has designed several obstacles with a unique Las Vegas theme, including rolling dice and baccarat tables, adding a dramatic flair to the proceedings, and heart-stopping entertainment will include the daredevil motorcycle antics of “The Riders of the Thunderdome”.

For the first time in the United States, and in true Las Vegas fashion, fans can wager on the outcome of the $750,000 Las Vegas World Invitational Grand Prix on Saturday evening. The Las Vegas Hilton SuperBook® has set the odds, and World Cup Champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, a California native now representing Germany, is the current favorite to emerge victorious at 2 to1. Olympic Champion Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil has odds of three to one while British veterans Nick Skelton and Michael Whitaker are also hot picks. McLain Ward, a member of the Gold Medal Team at last summer’s Athens Olympic Games, is the American favorite, sitting at odds of 10 to 1.

Competition will take place Friday and Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday’s featured events are the “Let it Ride” Grand Prix, followed by the “Knock Out” where riders will race each other over identical courses until only two riders remain. Saturday evening opens with the “Ride and Drive” where riders will jump eight obstacles, then dismount and finish the course in an automobile. The night concludes with the spectacular $750,000 Las Vegas World Invitational Grand Prix that will see the winner ride away $245,000 richer.

CBS Sports has also announced that it will broadcast the Las Vegas World Invitational on New Year’s Eve, December 31. For more information on the CSI5* Las Vegas Invitational, including full results and to purchase tickets, please visit www.lasvegasinternational.com.