John Pearce and Archie Bunker are the top-ranked Canadians following round two of the 2007 Rolex World Cup Final. Photo Credit - Cealy Tetley

April 20, 2007 – Las Vegas, Nevada – Both Canadian show jumping representatives, John Pearce of Stouffville, ON, and Jill Henselwood of Oxford Mills, ON, are qualified for Sunday's third and final leg of the 2007 Rolex World Cup Final taking place April 19-22 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Coming into Friday night's class in 30th position, Pearce incurred only four faults over the difficult track set by course designer Guilherme Jorge of Brazil. Riding Archie Bunker, his nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Pearce had a knock-down at fence four, a narrow vertical that took its toll on the world-class field. With that performance, Pearce moved into a tie for 22nd position to qualify for Sunday's Final.

"My ride was great, my horse just got a little green and made a mistake at number four," said Pearce, 46, who is riding one of the youngest horses in the annual indoor competition. "He jumped the rest of the course awesome. He has hardly any indoor experience at all, so for him to do what he did tonight as a nine-year-old, as one of the youngest horses in the Final, I couldn't be happier. He showed top, top international quality, and he has a great future in front of him, there is no doubt about it. I was thrilled with him."

Having finished Thursday's speed round in 22nd position, Henselwood returned to the Thomas and Mack Center on Friday evening in front of a full house to incur 12 faults riding Callisto, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Equine Canada. After having the middle or 'b' element of the triple combination set at fence eight, Henselwood then lost her rein after the double combination at fence 11 and, with fence 12 coming up quickly in the tiny arena, was forced to circle before jumping fence 12. When the time faults were added on, Henselwood ended the evening tied in 27th position. As the top 27 riders advance to Sunday's Final, Henselwood just made the cut.

"She didn't really do anything wrong, so her score doesn't reflect how good she was," noted Henselwood, 44, who is making her third consecutive World Cup Final appearance. "She jumped so high using her power (at fence 11b), it was a little bit hard to sit on and she shifted me, plain and simple. She is the horse that I thought that she was when I picked her in the beginning, and I am thrilled to get a chance to show her on Sunday."

At the opening of this year's World Cup Final, Henselwood was awarded her World Cup Medal to signify that she has competed in more than 100 World Cup Qualifying classes during her career, her first being in 1989.

Following the first two legs of the World Cup Final, there is a tie for top spot between the number one ranked rider in the world, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum of Germany riding Shutterfly, and Switzerland's Steve Guerdat with Tresor V. Another Swiss rider, Beat Mandli, holds down third position with Ideo du Thot.

The third and final round will take place on Sunday, April 22, with the World Cup Champion being crowned at the conclusion. For more information including complete results, please visit www.worldcuplasvegas.com.