Darien, CT-June 16, 1998

McLain Ward, the 22-year old show jumping sensation from Brewster, NY, won the 1998 USET Regional Show Jumping Championship for Zone 1 with a win in the $35,000 Ox Ridge Grand Prix in Darien, CT. Ward, the 1997 Budweiser Show Jumping Champion, won the USET Regional championship trophy on Winstar, owned by Ward and Harry R. Gill, and placed second on Beneton, also owned by Ward.

Tim Grubb of Morristown, NJ, rode Elan Florestan, owned by Elan Farm, to third place, 3.45 seconds behind Ward's first place finish and Joe Fargis of Southampton, NY finished fourth on Caras J, owned by Virtual Farms LLC, Martin Puris and Mary B. Schwab. Ward on his two mounts, Grubb and Fargis were the only riders out of a field of 25 to complete the first round of the Ox Ridge Grand Prix without faults, advancing to the tie-breaking jump-off. Ward and Winstar completed the jump- off course without fault in 28.254 seconds, beating his 31.497 second place ride on Beneton. With a fault-free time of 31.706 seconds, Grubb and Elan Florestan took third place. Fargis and Caras J finished fourth with four faults.

Brian Sweeney of Oyster Bay, NY and Ivanhoe, owned by Sagamore Farms and Debbie Dolan, took the fifth place ribbon. Nona Garson of Lebanon, NJ came in sixth on Wildana, which she owns with the Kamine Family. Chris Kappler of Pittstown, NJ took seventh place on Hunterdon, Inc.'s Norman and eighth place on Rafiki, owned by Greg Obrecht. Winning the last four USET ribbons were Leslie Howard of Westport, CT on Danielle Monteleone's Clover Leaf, Federico Styrle of Sagaponack, NY on Gladyola owned by Anne Getcihell, Grubb on Elf Group's Elan Coriana, and Molly Ashe of West Palm Beach, FL on Hasta La Vista, owned by Sandra O'Donnell.

The USET created the Regional Show Jumping Championships to provide promising horses and riders the opportunity to compete on a regional level under Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) rules. The USET also uses the Regional Championships to identify high-caliber horse-and-rider teams capable of representing the United States in international competitions such as Pan American and Olympic Games.

Other 1998 USET Regional Show Jumping Championships include The Oaks Classic, San Juan Capistrano, CA, won by Richard Spooner of Glendale, CA, riding Robinson, owned by Half Moon Bay Investment Group, May 31 (Zone 10); The Hartwood Show Jumping Festival, Pittsburgh, PA (Zone 2), June 28; HITS Culpeper II, Culpeper, VA (Zone 3), July 12; and the Colorado Summer Classic, Parker, CO (Zone 8), July 18.