July 7, 2006 – Blainville, Quebec – John Pearce was the winner of the $20,000 Open Welcome held Friday, July 7, at the CSI-W Blainville Jumping International. The international show jumping competition takes place from July 5-9 at the Blainville Equestrian Park in Blainville, QC.

A total of 38 horses attempted the first-round track set by course designer Conrad Homfeld with 13 passing the test to advance to the jump-off. Pearce accounted for three of those entries in the jump-off, tripling his chances for victory. With his second horse, Archie Bunker, Pearce was lightning fast over the six obstacles to clock in at 37.41 seconds. None who followed would come close to catching his time, with second place finisher, Ashley Fleischhacker of the United States, stopping the clock at 39.20 seconds with her veteran partner, Uncle Sam.

"I thought the course was a little light given the quality of horses and riders that were in the field, but it was by no means easy and all of my horses jumped really well," said Pearce, who represented Canada at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. "Archie Bunker is a favourite amongst my colleagues and with the crowd. He is a Cadillac. He's a lovely horse to ride, he jumps easily, he's smart, and he has a lot of heart."

Quebec favourite Laurie Bucci of St. Hilaire, QC, took third place with a time of 40.06 seconds riding Quidam's Ramiro, a nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Claude Dufresne. Bucci has just returned to Canada after spending three months in Germany training with Olympic Gold Medallist, Ludger Beerbaum, widely considered to be one of the best riders in the world.

Eight-time Olympian Ian Millar of Perth, ON, set the early jump-off pace when, first out of the gate, he went clear in a time of 40.09 seconds. His partner was In Style, the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Susan Grange that will be his mount at the upcoming World Championships in Aachen, Germany. Joining him in Germany will be fifth placed finisher, Chris Pratt of Belfountain, ON, who turned in the day's only other double clear performance. Like Millar, Pratt was aboard his World Championship partner, Rivendell, an 11-year-old Westphalian gelding also owned by Susan Grange.

One of the longest running international equestrian competitions in all of Canada, the 18th Blainville Jumping International sees over 700 horses competing for more than $170,000 in prize money over the five-day tournament. Saturday afternoon features the $25,000 Challenge Desjardins Modified Grand Prix followed by the crowd-pleasing $3,500 Horse-Dog Relay. The tournament culminates with Sunday's $70,000 Grand Prix Jumping du Quebec World Cup Qualifier, an opportunity for riders to qualify for the 2007 World Cup Final in Las Vegas, USA.

Located just north of Montreal, the Blainville Equestrian Park features a variety of attractions for family members of all ages. For more information, please visit www.classiqueblainville.com or contact Blainville International at tel: (450) 434-8202 ext. 108, e-mail: classiqueblainville@videotron.ca.

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