Ward Wins Again, Not Once But Twice Today Kicking Off WEF Week 3

Joe Fargis And Maria Bonita Notch Win $5,000 Faults Converted Section

Wellington, FL - February 11, 2004 - Hot off a seven-win streak in the Internationale Arena after just two weeks of competition at the 32nd Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, McLain Ward, 28, of Brewster, NY, notched two more wins to his tally of victories. Kicking off the Kilkenny/ICH Internationale CSI***, which runs February 11-15, Ward rode Cinderella 248 for owner Double H Farm to win the $$7,500 1.45 Meter in the morning. He followed that up in the afternoon aboard LaBelle for owner Turnabout Farm, chalking up the victory in the $5,000 1.40 Meter. Course designer this week in the arena is Frank Rothenberger.

A starting field of 60 horses contested the $7,500 1.45m, Time First Jump-Off. While several riders had two or three mounts entered, Ward took only one shot - the gray mare, Cinderella. The duo went 29th in the order and was the sixth combination to clear the 15-effort round one. The format calls for the rider to immediately attack the eight-effort jump-off. Ward clocked in clean over the short course in 33.596 seconds, topping the five previous double clears. The last half of the class chased his time, and though eight more combinations crossed the timers fault-free, all were a second and more slower than Ward. His time was unbeatable again aboard the Double H-owned mare. Molly Ashe riding King Louie for Rosewood Glen Ltd placed second with her time of 34.643. Anne Kursinski riding Sun God for Ron and Cheryl Krise placed third in 34.717.

With 127 entries on the order of go for the $5,000 1.40m Faults Converted class, Stadium Jumping, Inc. management split the class into two sections. McLain Ward had three horses in the first section and won the class on Labelle for owner Turnabout Farm, topping 68 horses. He had a look at the course early on when he went sixth in the order aboard Prins for owner Meghan Moran and set that pace with their clear in 53.402. Ward maintained his lead for most of the class, until he topped himself as the 40th rider on course with LaBelle who ate up the course in a phenomenal 50.581. Three rides later, Margie Engle on Hidden Creek's Charlie Brown took a shot and posted a clear in 52.235, which proved to be good enough for third place. Joe Fargis directly followed Engle on the roster aboard Carousel owned by Mary B Schwab and came close to Ward with his clear trip in 51.820, but had to settle for second place.

In the second section of the $5,000 1.40m Faults Converted class, Joe Fargis riding Maria Bonita for owner Mary B. Schwab topped the roster of 59 horses. Laura Chapot aboard Copper Twist for owner Mary Chapot set the pace early on - the duo went third in the order and clocked in clear at 54.622, but they ended up in second place. Emily Williams aboard her own Abracadabra took aim at the leader, but fell short by almost two seconds and had to settle for third place. Fargis was the 24th rider to take the test and burned up the grass with his clear in 53.465, which proved to be unbeatable for the remaining 34 riders. Fargis also rode Caucalis for owner Frederick Graham and placed sixth with a fault-free trip in 57.145.

For complete results, visit www.stadiumjumping.com