Jennifer Urioste and Mary Moricoli Win Series Year-End Championships

Tampa, FL—December 9, 2004— Danielle Torano, Brianne Goutal, Eduardo Sanchez Navarro, and Lauren Hester emerged as champions of the 2004 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series.

The Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series conducted its largest Series ever in 2004, with classes at nearly 100 horse shows across the nation. This gave competitors an abundance of opportunities to accumulate points throughout the year. The Series featured separate divisions for amateur-owner and junior riders with separate standings kept for East and West Conferences.

Topping the amateur-owner division final standings in the East Conference was Danielle Torano of Fort Lauderdale, FL, who finished the year with 625 points aboard Lojana. This is the same mount on whom Torano won the Series Championship in 2001. Cara Cheska of Waukesha, WI, and her mount Njordoctro took second place behind Torano with 600 points. In third with 450 points was Summer Gay of Ridgefield, CT, riding Pamina.

In the junior division, Brianne Goutal of New York, NY, and Onira proved themselves unbeatable, taking top honors with 745 points. Gabby Slome of Riverdale, NY, and Salsa finished in second place in the junior division with 700 points. Charlie Jayne of Elgin, IL, was third with 650 points aboard Champion.

In the West Conference, Eduardo Sanchez Navarro of Mexico City, Mexico and Scappino Maximus took top honors in the amateur-owner division with a score of 389 points. Finishing in second place was Eva Gonda of Thousand Oaks, CA, who earned 365 points riding El Campeon’s Landstreicher. Elizabeth Easton of Torrance, CA, riding Oxford, and Katy Brandes of San Juan Capistrano, CA, aboard Odessa Van de Somme, tied for third place with 340 points each.

The top spot in the West Conference junior division standings went to Lauren Hester of Rancho Santa Fe, CA, and Oxford with a year-end total of 720 points. More than 400 points separated first and second place in the junior division this year. Behind Hester, with 300 points, was Jordan Lubow of Bell Canyon, CA, on El Campeon’s Jo Jo. Finishing the year in third place with 275 points was Shelby Walter of Beverly Hills, CA, aboard Corrada 3.

Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series Year-End Championships

Following the completion of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series schedule, the Show Jumping Hall of Fame conducted Year-End Championships at the National Horse Show in Wellington, FL. Jennifer Urioste and Mary Moricoli emerged as the Junior and Amateur-Owner Champions. Each bested a field of the nation’s top horses and riders who had qualified for the Championhips based on their performances in the Series throughout the year.

Urioste, of Wellington, FL, rode her mount Casanova to the win in the $15,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Junior Championship. Topping a starting field of 13 horse-and-rider combinations, Urioste produced two clear rounds, including the only clear round in the jump-off. She stopped the timers in the jump-off at 42.931 seconds.

Only three horse-and-rider pairs jumped clean over the 13-obstacle first round course. The Reserve Championship went to Haylie Jayne of Elgin, IL, who had a rail down at the fifth fence in the jump-off for a four-fault finish in a time of 44.974 seconds on Cartier. Haylie’s brother Charlie finished third in the jump-off aboard Champion, but retired before completing the seven-obstacle course.

Mary Moricoli of Wilmette, IL, and Tulip emerged victorious in the $15,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Amateur-Owner Championship. Moricoli was one of seven horse-and-rider combinations out of the starting field of 17 to produce a fault-free ride in the first round.

Moricoli then produced the only clear round in the jump-off, stopping the clock at 44.918 seconds. The Reserve Championship went to Danielle Grice of Northfield, MN, who had a rail down, but turned in a lightning-fast time of 40.517 seconds riding The Boy Wonder. East Conference Champion Danielle Torano also had a rail down for four faults, but her time of 41.553 seconds on LaBelle earned her a third place finish.

The Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series is designed to give amateur-owner and junior riders an opportunity to compete at higher levels, and it serves as a proving ground for many riders who aspire to someday represent the United States in international competition. The Show Jumping Hall of Fame and Museum at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL, was established to promote the sport of show jumping and to immortalize the legends of the men, women and horses who have made great contributions to the sport.

For more information about the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series, including complete final Series standings and results from the Year-End Championships, please visit the Show Jumping Hall of Fame website at www.showjumpinghalloffame.net.