Tampa, Florida – March 28, 2003 - Two days following his third place finish in the $30,000 Ariat WEF Challenge Cup Final, show jumping athlete Keean White of Cambridge, ON, once again took third place honours in Tampa, FL, this time in the $20,000 1.50m Classic.

Only four riders from the 29-horse starting field posted clear rounds over the track designed by Mehves Trak of Turkey to return for the jump-off. Third to contest the jump-off course, White would have had the winning time, but a rail down for four faults cost him the win. While Wednesday’s placing came aboard his 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, Libidou, White’s third place finish in Friday’s $20,000 1.50m Classic came aboard Arriscraft Rocca, his nine-year-old selle francais gelding.

With the only double clear performance, 40-year-old Jeffrey Welles of Newtown, CT, claimed victory with Equinox in the $20,000 1.50m Classic while McLain Ward of Brewster, NY, finished second with the fastest of the four fault rides, 29.95 seconds, riding Galant. White, 20, finished third among the United States Equestrian Team veterans as Oregon’s Rich Fellers, 43, made the trip east to place fourth riding McGuinness.

White began his successful 2003 Florida circuit with a win in the $25,000 ‘Just Jumping in Jacksonville’ Grand Prix riding Libidou while Arriscraft Rocca placed fourth. During the five-week HITS Ocala circuit, White earned a ribbon in every Sunday Grand Prix, including a fourth place finish in the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix on February 9 with Arriscraft Rocca and a sixth placed in the $50,000 King Shavings Grand Prix on February 23 with Libidou. He ended the five-week Ocala circuit with a sixth place finish in the $100,000 Volvo Grand Prix riding Arriscraft Rocca.

His stellar performances earned him the position of alternate for the Canadian Team contesting the Nations Cup in Wellington, where, competing as an individual, he placed fifth with Arriscraft Rocca in the $7,500 Cosequin 1.45 m Speed competition held March 5, his first day of showing. Moving to Tampa, White and Arriscraft Rocca were fourth in the $25,000 WEF Challenge Cup on March 20 while Libidou was sixth in the $20,000 1.5m Classic on March 22.

With the Florida circuit drawing to a close, White will return to Angelstone Farm and Ridgeview Stables in Cambridge, ON, before traveling west to Vancouver in May to contest the Canadian Show Jumping Team Selection Trials for the Pan American Games to be held this August in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

One of Canada’s top up-and-coming riders, White was a member of the silver medal teams at both the 2002 and 2001 North American Young Riders’ Championships, having also won a team bronze medal in 2000. He capped off his 2002 season by winning the National Talent Squad Championship at the 2002 Royal Horse Show in Toronto, ON, with Arriscraft Rocca.

$20,000 1.50m Classic, CSI-W Tournament of Champions – March 28